President Muhammadu Buhari media aide, Garba Shehu, has said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the President will decide whether or not to obey the Supreme Court today in relation to the Naira redesign policy.
“We wish to state that it is not true that the federal government or the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN have taken a preemptive action on the legality of currency as a legal tender in view of the pendency of the case before the Supreme Court,” Shehu said, late Tuesday night in a statement.
He added, “The position of the government and the CBN will be made known upon the determination of the suit coming up tomorrow (today).”
The Presidency said, together with the CBN, it had not refused to recognise the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes as legal tender despite a Supreme Court ruling, a claim earlier contradicted by the apex bank’s official in Bauchi.
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Despite the Supreme Court ruling, financial institutions, filling stations, supermarkets, and other business owners have continued to reject the old naira notes. Several banks were reported to have based their decision to reject the old banknotes on a circular emanating from the CBN.
However, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, was reported to have stated that the old notes were no longer legal tender from February 10 at a meeting with diplomats in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Zamfara, Kaduna, and Kogi governments had approached the Supreme Court to challenge CBN’s February 10 deadline for old naira notes to cease as legal tender.
In its February 8 ruling, the Supreme Court directed all parties to maintain the status quo and quashed the February 10 deadline until the determination of the case on February 15.
