Three All Progressives Congress (APC) governors have instituted a contempt proceeding against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
The APC governors went to court because of the refusal of the Federal Government and the CBN to obey the order of the nation’s apex court on February 3, to allow the use of old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes alongside the newly redesigned naira notes
The three governors, including Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna State), Yahaya Adoza Bello (Kogi State) and Bello Muhammad Matawalle (Zamfara State), were the original plaintiffs in a motion ex parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha, urging the apex court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the N200, N500 and N1000 denominations may no longer be legal tender on February 10, 2023.
In the fresh documents filed before the Supreme Court, the governors cautioned Malami and Emefiele about the consequences of their continued failure to comply with the apex court’s order.
The two sets of Form 48, filed by the team of lawyers representing the three governors, form part of the applications now awaiting the Supreme Court’s consideration when proceedings in the suit they filed on February 3, resumes today.
On February 8, the Supreme Court had restrained the CBN from implementing the deadline on the use of old naira notes following an ex parte application brought by the three governors.
Malami, who is the sole respondent, had also filed a preliminary objection to the suit, arguing that the Supreme Court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
He also said the plaintiffs failed to join the CBN in the suit, which has just him as the sole plaintiff.
Seven other states later joined as co-plaintiffs, while Edo and Bayelsa states joined the AGF as defendants.