Another Northern State drags FG to Supreme Court Over New Naira Notes Policy

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The Niger State Government on Saturday revealed that it had filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government of Nigeria over the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Supreme Court.

This was disclosed in a statement by the State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Justice Nasara Danmallam, in Minna.

According to Danmallam, the case with suit number SC/CV/210/2023 was filed on Friday, with the Niger State Government as the plaintiff.

This is coming less than a week after three Northern States, Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara governments had filed a lawsuit against the Federal Government on the same issue.

The statement said that the Niger State government was seeking an extension of the timeframe given by the CBN for the currency swap and withdrawal from circulation of old N200, N500, and N1,000, amongst other reliefs.

It added that the three months given by the Federal government for the withdrawal of old currency nationwide was not reasonable and was in violation of sections 13, 14 (2) (b), 17 (1) (c) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

In the affidavit in support of the originating summons, filed at the Supreme Court, the Niger Government contended that the unavailability of the newly redesigned notes had caused untold hardships and sufferings for the inhabitants of the State, especially rural dwellers across the State.

Recall that the CBN had announced an extension of its previous deadline for a full transition to the new naira notes.

The deadline, according to the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, was moved to February 10, 2023.

However, the Supreme Court had already annulled the CBN deadline of Feb. 10.

A seven-man panel led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous ruling last Wednesday, ordered that the old naira notes remain in circulation until Feb. 15 when the apex court will rule on the matter.