By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Capital Market Expert, Professor Uche Uwaleke has advised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to obey the latest judgement of the Supreme Court regarding the apex Bank’s Naira Notes Redesign policy.
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered that old N200, N500, N1,000 notes should remain in circulation till December 31, 2023.
The apex court also nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution.
Reacting to the Supreme Court judgement in a statement on Friday, Uwaleke said the CBN should comply with the ruling, “since it has come from the final court in the land”.
According to him, “doing so will help revive economic activities and reduce the current difficulties being experienced by Nigerians on account of the policy”.
The university don noted that “it’s important to recognize that the CBN has recorded some achievements in terms of the objectives it set out to achieve. The reduction in huge cash circulating outside the commercial banks, the surge in electronic transactions, increase in financial Inclusion are part of the achievements recorded thus far”.
He further stated that the time frame till Dec 31, 2023 provides an opportunity for the CBN to re-assess the policy and improve on its implementation without causing distortions to the economy.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgement, held that the preliminary objections by the defendants (the Attorney General of the Federation, Bayelsa and Edo states) are dismissed as the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
Citing Section 23(2)1 of the constitution, the court held that the dispute between the FederaL Government and states must involve law or facts.
The apex court further held that President Muhammadu Buhari in his broadcast admitted that the policy is flawed with a lot of challenges.
The court said the policy has led to some people engaging in trade by barter in this modern age in a bid to survive. The court added that the President’s disobedience of the February 8 order, is a sign of dictatorship.
Sixteen states of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.
The suit initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states has been slated as the first case on the cause list for final verdict.
Justice John Inyang Okoro who led a seven-man panel of Justices of the Court had on February 22 fixed Friday, March 3rd for the court to make its decision known on the suit.
The 16 states led by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara prayed the apex court to void and set aside the policy on the ground that it is inflicting hardships on innocent Nigerians.
