State governments, which sued the Federal Government over the naira redesign policy, have given the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, until Tuesday to comply with the Supreme Court’s order on the currency.
The state governments threatened to file contempt charges against the two top officials on Tuesday should they disobey the apex court, which ordered that the old N1,000, N500 and N200 should be circulated alongside the new notes until December 31, 2023.
Over one week after the court handed down the order, the AGF and the CBN kept mum on the verdict. Their silence has emboldened Nigerians and businesses to reject the old notes as legal tender.
Recall that on Friday, the federal government was served with the enrolled order and certified true copy of the Supreme Court judgement, ordering the use of old notes as legal tender for 10 months.
Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), counsel for Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, which dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court on the matter, disclosed that Malami was served with the enrolled order and the CTC of the judgment on Friday afternoon. He added that he expected immediate compliance with the judgment as the non-service of the documents had given the government and the CBN an escape route.
Mustapha said, “The Attorney-General of the Federation has been served now and we will take it up from there; if there is no compliance now, we will commence committal proceedings against the attorney-general and the CBN governor.”
But giving an update on the move to enforce compliance with the order of the apex court on Sunday, the Zamfara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Junaidu Aminu, revealed that since the Federal Government had refused to implement the judgment, the plaintiffs in the suit would approach the court again to ensure compliance with the court’s order.
States await FG
The PUNCH reports Aminu as saying that the states would file contempt charges against the Federal Government on Tuesday.
He said, “We have just served the Attorney General of the Federation with the Certified True Copy of the Enrolled Order of the Supreme Court last Friday. We are waiting for them to respect the court’s decision on the naira notes and comply with the decision. If they fail to comply on Monday, we are filing our case on Tuesday.’’
The AG insisted that Emefiele must address Nigerians on the naira notes issued on or before Monday (today), noting that “that is what Nigerians are waiting for.”
“If he fails to do so, we will go back to court again to sue him and the Federal Government on contempt charges,’’ he warned.
The Zamfara State justice commissioner explained that the AGF had the duty to direct the CBN governor to implement the court’s verdict on the naira notes.
Aminu further said, “The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, is the one who should direct the CBN to comply with the Supreme Court’s verdict and allow the old naira notes to remain legal tender until December 31.”
Explaining why the CBN governor was not a party in the matter, he stated, “The matter is between some states and the Federal Government. The CBN governor is an ordinary civil servant who receives directives from the Federal Government.”
The PUNCH also reports that Dayo Apata, the Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, said the state would align with other states on whatever legal steps would make the Federal Government comply with the Supreme Court’s judgment on the naira redesign and cash swap policy.
Apata said, “Definitely, we are all in the same boat and what is important to us is to ensure compliance with the court order. So, whatever we will do legally that will make the parties comply, we will align with it.
“Whatever that is going to be legally possible for us to achieve the aims and objectives of our going to court, we will align with other states.’’
