Several state governments have taken action against Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, SAN, and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiere for refusing to enforce a Supreme Court ruling on the federal Naira reform policy. I am planning an insult lawsuit.
As revealed on Friday, the federal government received a registration order and a copy of last week's Supreme Court ruling. The ruling also ordered the old N1,000, N500 and N200 to remain in circulation along with the new banknotes until his December 31st. 2023. 4,444 4,444 Saturday's reporter blames registered order and he's failure to pass CTC judgment that federal government did not direct Emefiere to bring up old memo, already obsolete I collected.
President Maj. Gen. Muhammad Buhari (veteran)'s silence on the Supreme Court's ruling has resulted in his remaining N1,000 inheritance and his N500 being dismissed as legal tender. On Monday, some banks began paying customers old bills following the Supreme Court ruling, but banks stopped paying old bills on Wednesday.
reporters learned that the CTC of registered orders and judgments was served at the AGF on Friday afternoon.
Abdul Hakeem Mustafa (SAN), a lawyer in the states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zanfara, who has taken the federal government to the Supreme Court in this matter, said in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents that Marami is registered. He added that he issued the judgment at the CTC on Friday afternoon and expects the ruling to be enforced immediately as non-delivery of the documents gave the government and CBN a way out.
Mustapha said: If there is currently no compliance, the Attorney General and he will launch an investigation against the CBN Governor. When the Supreme Court conducts hearings, the Constitution requires all government officials and everyone to obey its orders. It's not arbitrary. must obey. It is the last and final. That is why we have separation of powers.
"The existence of the separation of powers is for checks and balances. What the Supreme Court says must be followed by all." I tell people: we still have to get it. Once you have that, move on to the next step. When the Supreme Court speaks, all branches of government follow, but when they don't, the rules are clear. We will take necessary legal measures within the scope of the law. But you must obtain a registered order and serve the accused. I'm here.
“At any time in the future, certified copies of registered orders and judgments will be available and will be taken from there. I can assure you. Mr. Mustafa will appear before the CTC and say, "The court deals with live matters, not speculation. When you get to the bridge, cross it." 's phone said it was turned off and is not available.
Since the
ruling, state governors, senior lawyers and other stakeholders have urged commercial banks to start issuing old banknotes alongside new banknotes to ease the shortage of Naira that has been paralyzing the economy. He was urging Buhari to order the governor. Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufay, Kogi State Governor Yahya Bello, Zamfara State Governor Bero Mataware, Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akhledor, among others, condemned the president and Emefires' silence on the verdict. bottom.
In Judge Agim's verdict, the seven-member Supreme Court ruled that Buhari had violated the constitution by issuing guidelines for Naira's redesign.
Judge Azim, who had disobeyed previous Supreme Court orders regarding the new bill, said Buhari broadcast on 16 February 2023 that only N200 banknotes should remain legal tender. He said he had made the country's democracy look like a total presumption.
Agim Judge said: The First Defendant clearly refused to comply with this order.
The president's national broadcast on February 16, 2023 shows this disobedience. Ignoring the order, he ordered only the old N200 naira notes to be put back into circulation. Interestingly, nothing supports implementing this directive. I agree with Plaintiff 9 that Defendant 1 is ineligible to be heard by this Court if Defendant 1 fails to respect the powers of this Court and of the laws constituting the powers of the President of Nigeria and the Government of Nigeria. Agree.
“The rule of law, which is the foundation of our democratic rule, becomes an illusion when the president of that country or any authority or individual refuses to obey a court order. Disobedience to court orders is a symptom of constitutional failure and democratic rule has become a mere right, now supplanted by tyranny or dictatorship.”
Worsening naira shortage
Meanwhile, on Friday most banks in Lagos and Ogun states were found to be running out of cash.
Tier 1 A bank manager told reporters his branch last received cash last Tuesday, adding that bankers were also frustrated by the currency crisis affecting the country.
Lagos based branch manager said: The last stock we got was an N5m last Monday and another N5m the next day. Our bullion van team member has been waiting a week for a cash signal to come to CBN, but there has been no signal. Got it last week and he didn't last the N10m until Wednesday.
“Following the Supreme Court ruling, we initially paid desperate customers old N1,000 and N500 bills that had not been deposited with the CBN, but the customers came back and complained.
Another senior banker confirmed this, adding that his first generation bank had not received new naira notes to be paid to customers.
He said: No cash provided this week. The instant payment platform of Nigeria's interbank payment system is not working. Digital payment systems are overwhelmed. Now, when we see large crowds at our branches, we do not hand them cash and are handling complaints arising from digital payments. I think it's intentional not to supply naira notes to banks because they don't want to wipe out naira notes, politicians are now desperate for cash to pay their agents. I know a candidate for the Lagos State Capitol. He impassionedly appealed to his friends to collect money to pay unpaid party members after the presidential and parliamentary elections, and threatened not to vote for governors and registrars in the elections Office Ass
An operations manager in one of the commercial banks said his branch had been unable to dispense cash to customers because it did not have any. She explained that her branch had not received any cash from the headquarters in the last one month, and that the most recent any of the nearby branches received cash was two weeks ago.
“The cash scarcity is getting worse. Even as a bank worker, I don`t have cash to spend. We have not been receiving money from the headquarters and so we have nothing to give to customers,” she added.
Asked if they had a directive to dispense the old notes in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling, she said, “No, there is no communication from our headquarters in that regard. We have some old notes that customers deposited, which we can pay for now, but we don`t have an instruction to disburse them.
“Ordinarily, people expected the banks to start paying the old notes immediately after the Supreme Court ruled on the matter on March 3, but we needed a directive from the CBN through our headquarters to do that. So, the challenge is three-pronged; the CBN did not release the old notes for us to circulate; we don`t have the authorisation to dispense the old notes we have in our vault; and the CBN has refused to supply us new notes. That is what is responsible for the scarcity everywhere.
“The last time my branch received an old bill was about a month ago in early February. Yes, when it was divided into eight chapters, very few entered it and did not last a day. , held peaceful protests against the refusal of the old N1.000 and N500 banknotes organized by transport companies, dealers, banks and petrol stations. It argued that the refusal to accept the old Naira banknotes was insubordination to the Supreme Court's ruling ordering them to be put into circulation together with the banknotes.
The protest took place in Akenfa, on the outskirts of the provincial capital.
Protesters with placards blocked the Akenfa section of the Mbiama-Yenagoa road.
Actions by local residents caused traffic jams, forcing commuters to travel long distances and drivers to take alternative routes.
They called on the federal government and Governor Due Dili to intervene to keep the population out of danger.
Her Rebecca Izibeya, one of the
protesters, said: They have no reason to reject the old naira notes because the Supreme Court said they remain legal tender.”
Another protester, Oyintari Cosmos, said he was fed up with the rejection of the old naira notes since the apex court delivered its verdict.
He said, "As far as I know, no one should challenge the Supreme Court's decision. Everyone is supposed to follow the Supreme Court and accept the old N1,000 and N500 bills.
"But I am surprised. As it should be, in Yenagoa some merchants and Keke drivers, some banks, petrol stations, restaurants and even supermarkets are rejecting old Naira banknotes, it is wrong and unacceptable. 4,444 drivers and road users were stranded for hours traveling on the Onitsha-Owerri road Thursday night after security forces, believed to be Marines, attacked an enamel tricycle operator.
Tricycle and shuttle bus drivers, passengers and other drivers are complaining that they are suffering because of stoppages caused by the Marines who put up daily roadblocks at both ends of the highway. Acting under the guise of enforcing a 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. curfew imposed by the Anambra state government, these security forces routinely sandbag more than half the roads and conduct inspections. complained of making the night of the place and threatening all commercial drivers.
State Governor Professor Chukwuma Soludo imposed a curfew in July 2022 on about eight local government districts in the state, including Ogval, citing deteriorating security conditions.
Security barricaded section of the
Onitsha-Owerri highway falls under Ogbaru LGA.
It has been noted that after the development of
, Marines at checkpoints always collect N200 from each tricycle driver, N500 from shuttle bus drivers, and N1,000 from truck drivers. increase.
State Police spokesperson DSP Tochukwu Ikenga denied knowledge of the military's activities.
"You have informed me of this situation. Efforts are being made to ensure that this situation ends. If you have been harmed, please use the complaint hotline," Ike said. Ha added.
The Governor's Press Secretary, Christian Abrimeh, referred the reporter to the Governor's Special Advisor on Safety, AVM Ben Kiobi, but did not respond to his cell phone calls or messages.
Kogi Warning
The Kogi state government has warned residents and businesses not to reject the outdated naira bill.
State Intelligence Commissioner Kingsley Fanwo said in a statement on Friday that the Supreme Court's ruling meant that both old and new naira notes should be accepted for the purpose of conducting business through the end of the year.
“Congratulations to the people of Nigeria on the historic ruling by the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Nigeria. It means that it remains." commissioner.
According to him, it is unacceptable for some individuals and companies to continue to refuse to use the old naira notes even after the court has issued a ruling upholding the use of the old naira notes. It added that refusal to do so would be a clear disobedience to the judgment. of the Supreme Court.
He explained that the reason why the state government had proceeded with the lawsuit in cooperation with other states was to alleviate the difficulties caused by the unavailability of the new naira banknotes fully recognized by the court.
"Anyone who refuses old naira notes should be reported to the security and government agencies so that they can take immediate action," Fanwo added.
He also warned that banks refusing to accept old naira deposits would be closed as state governments would not accept financial institutions that willfully disregard court orders, especially orders from the country's Supreme Court.
"Be aware that banks will issue old naira notes, so they must also receive them. We cannot continue to kill the economy after the Supreme Court has given us our freedom," the commissioner said. Declared.
The State Government has set up a high-level committee headed by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning Commission to ensure full compliance and compliance with Supreme Court decisions.
'Impeach Buhari Now'
The Southern Nigerian People's Commission has asked the National Assembly to hold an impeachment trial against the president, who refused to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling on naira reform.
The group also said the management and presidents of all banks in the country should be prosecuted for helping to intentionally inflict pain on Nigerians.
In a statement by its head Augustin Chukdum on Friday, the group noted that Buhari's refusal to comply with the Supreme Court's ruling was dictatorial and criminal.
Group said:
“The bank is also using this situation to fraudulently enrich his POS operators working on their behalf. This needs to stop immediately.
“Since the Supreme Court ruling, these banks have been paying customers old banknotes of N500 and N1,000, but have refused to take them back when customers take them back. This is theft of leadership.
We hereby call on the Nigerian people to signal representatives of the National Assembly to sign an impeachment order against Mr Buhari for this pernicious policy."
