From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
For the third time, President Muhammadu Buhari met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele at the Presidential Villa Abuja, on Monday, with the latter refusing to talk to State House Correspondents after the meeting.
Since the new naira notes — N1000, N500, and N200 – were unveiled to the public in December 2022, implementation has been difficult.
Although the purpose of the meeting was not known, insiders say it has to do with the Naria scarcity in the country.
The meeting comes 24 hours after governors of the platform of Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), described the CBN Naira re-design and cash withdrawal restrictions policy as draconian and infringes on the rights of Nigerians to use legitimately earned income as they wish.
The governors had also directed states attorney generals to join the suit in the Supreme 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 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, in a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, Abdul Hakeem Uthman Mustapha.
Recall on February 8, the Supreme Court in a ruling halted the move by the Federal Government to ban the circulation of the old Naira notes by February 10, 2023.
Justice John Okoro led a seven-man team of justices to temporarily stop the government’s deadline while ruling in an exparte application brought by three northern governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states.
The three northern states had prayed the Supreme 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 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on February 10, in a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, Abdul Hakeem Uthman Mustapha.
The Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states are the plaintiffs while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, is the sole Respondent
Justice Okoro, who ruled on the motion exparte granted the application as prayed.
“An order of Interim Injunction restraining the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on Feb. 10, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction,” he ruled.
The judge adjourned until February 15, 2023, for a hearing of the main suit.