Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, president of the Nigerian Bar Association; Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra State and Arewa group has urged Nigeria’s president, Muhammed Buhari, to restore the old naira notes as legal tender to quell the hardship it has subjected Nigerians to.
Maikyau called on the president to immediately direct compliance with the terms of the orders made by the Supreme Court in its judgment delivered on March 3, 2023, on the naira redesign policy.
“The court did not mince words on the negative impact of the president’s directives which deprived owners of the withdrawn old naira notes of their right to the ownership and use of the funds without an enabling law. This brought hardship to Nigerians and the situation has not abated,” the NBA president said in a statement.
“I agree with the views expressed by the Learned writer, Anthonia Ochei (Naira Redesign- the Law and Global best practices, Business Day, Nov. 18, 2022) that successful currency redesign projects are actualized with the partnership of the public, not handed down.
“This involves an educational and informational campaign on the steps to be taken both by the issuing authority and the stakeholders as well as the expected outcomes of such a project. It also includes strategies to mitigate and manoeuvre any temporary hardships that may be occasioned by the exercise. None of these practices to the knowledge of the public has been calculated into the pace of this naira redesign and withdrawal of existing naira notes. Nigeria’s economy continues to be informal even after various redesigns of the currency with the dependence on cash for many transactions. Holding cash is still very popular amongst traders and farmers in rural areas.”
He also said rather than comply with the directives of the Supreme Court, the federal government stuck to its position despite clear findings that the actions were illegal and unlawful.
“Let me consider the issue of the President’s disobedience of the 8- 2-2023 interim order that the new and old versions of naira notes continue to circulate as legal tender until the determination of the pending application for interlocutory injunction. It is not in dispute that the 1st defendant refused to obey the said order. The President’s 16-2-2023 national broadcast reproduced here on pages 27-31 demonstrates this disobedience. In disobedience of the order, he directed that only the old N200 naira notes be recirculated. the NBA president said.
“Interestingly, there is nothing to show the implementation of even that directive. I agree with the 9th plaintiff, that the 1st defendant should not have been heard by this court when it refused to respect the authority of this court and the authority of law from which the authority of the President and the Government of Nigeria derives.
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“The rule of law upon which our democratic governance is founded becomes illusory if the President of the country or any authority or person refuses to obey the orders of courts. The disobedience of orders of courts by the President in a constitutional democracy as ours is a sign of the failure of the constitution and that democratic governance has become a mere pretension and is now replaced by autocracy or dictatorship.”
Also adding its voice, a northern socio-political group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) asked the president to obey the Supreme Court order and also to address the issues as the situation may cause damage to his credentials as a democrat and a stickler for the rule of law.
A statement issued by Murtala Aliyu, secretary general of the group said the naira redesign policy has led to runaway inflation in food and other commodities, warning that the situation may lead to the breakdown of law and order in the country.
“Whatever the Central Bank of Nigeria or anyone else says about the benefits of the policy, which evidently are many, is of little comfort as soon as the highest court in the country has deemed that it is, or, at least the manner of its implementation, breaches the law,” Aliyu said.
“It has triggered riots and other forms of civil unrest. President Buhari is under oath to defend the constitution of Nigeria. As his long-term supporters, it will be remiss of us if we fail to warn that the much-touted benefits of the naira redesign can never justify the damage to his credentials as a democrat and a stickler for the rule of law.”
Soludo, on his path, said that Godwin Emefiele governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to dispense old naira notes, as this disclosure was made to him in a phone conversation on Sunday night.
“Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive the same as deposits from customers,” Soludo said in a statement.
“Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.”
