Sunday Ejike – Abuja
The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Yakubu Maikyau has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately direct compliance with the terms of the orders made by the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered on March 3, 2023, in respect of the Naira redesign policy.
The NBA President, in a statement made available to newsmen by the National Publicity Secretary, Mr Akorede Habeeb Lawal said, while the association support the objective of the policy and offers its platform to do whatever is within its remit in the fight to curb corruption, counterfeiting, vote buying and other criminal activities, the NBA is concerned about the apparent hardship currently experienced by Nigerians and it is absolutely necessary to look into that without compromising the laudable objective of the policy.”
According to the statement, the implementation of the policy in the manner it was being carried out will bring more loss, stifle economic activities, cause panic and generally result in more hardship for the same Nigerians the policy is meant to serve.
The statement reads, “The NBA, after a review of the experiences of other countries, particularly India, Australia, EU and the United Kingdom on similar endeavours, presented our perspectives and recommendations to the CBN Governor on the implementation of the policy.
“We stated that; without any intention of challenging the policy which we have admitted at the onset to be laudable, we have considered the provisions of the relevant laws vis-a-vis the available logistical, infrastructural and manpower support required for the implementation of the policy, we are of the humble opinion that, there is a need for an urgent review.
“In our view, the necessary logistical, infrastructural and manpower support, required for the successful implementation of the policy are in short supply and should be greatly improved upon if they are to be leveraged for full implementation of the policy with minimal loss or economic hardship”.
After making reference to the provisions of section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, the NBA observed, that, “The power of the CBN to call in any of its notes or coins otherwise described as demonetisation, can only become operational upon the directive of the President after giving reasonable notice for the recall. From the clear wording of the section, these two conditions must coexist before the power to call any of the notes or coins by the CBN can crystallise.
“The questions that have trailed this policy from our consultations include; was there a directive of the President? And where there was one, could it be said that the notice, given the prevailing circumstances was reasonable? The questions seek to interrogate the process leading to the policy and justify the need for an extension of the timelines for its implementation.
“There seems not to be any information in the public domain as to what would happen to the old currency in the possession of Nigerians, by or after 13 January 2023. Section 20 (3) quoted above requires that: any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this Subsection, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this Act, shall be redeemed by the Bank upon demand,” the statement added.
According to the NBA boss, the CBN’s cash swap program which took effect on 23 January 2023 has not addressed the concerns of Nigerians post-31 January 2023. While appreciating the actions of the CBN which are based on the enabling law, Maikyau said, it is important to adhere strictly to the spirit and intent of the law, “as we must not deploy the laws made to serve the course of Nigerians to become an instrument to inflict harm, loss, injury and stifle economic activities.
“This would go against the spirit of the policy and penalise Nigerians who have legitimate reasons to transact in cash without affording them the education, infrastructure or opportunity to do otherwise. Similarly, Nigerians must be offered the opportunity to demand the CBN to redeem any cash in their possession post-31 January 2023.
“The Supreme Court held that there was no compliance with the requirement of notice under section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007. The Court thereafter proceeded to hold the directive of the President and the implementation of the policy as invalid and in its wisdom considering the necessity created by the actions of the Federal Government.
“Even though the directive and its implementation are invalid since the new naira notes have already been introduced and the old ones withdrew, for practical purposes, in the face of the situation as it is, the President should direct the recirculation of the withdrawn old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes and the two versions should continue as legal tender till 3112-2023, by which time the redesigned ones would have been printed enough
to completely replace all the old notes.
“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,” he said.
While noting that, the NBA remains committed to the promotion, entrenchment and respect for the Rule of Law, integrity of the Court and the independence of the judiciary, it shall stand up against any action that seeks to undermine the Rule of Law, the integrity of the Court and the independence of the judiciary.
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