Recall the governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states had filed a suit challenging the February 10 deadline announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria as the last day of the currency swap which would see Nigerians end the use of the older denominations of the N1000, N500, and N200 notes.
The states opposed the February 10 deadline for the currency swap policy because the citizens should not suffer the effects of the CBN policy which they say was ill-timed.
According to a report by the Punch, more states have however, indicated a willingness to join the other suing states as the Attorneys-General of Ekiti, Bayelsa, Sokoto, and Rivers states have revealed that their states were set to join as co-plaintiffs. Kano and Ondo had earlier joined the three states, which filed the suit.
The supreme court had, following the application of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, issued an ex parte order restraining the Federal Government and CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the swap of the old N1000, N500, and N200 notes.
But the Federal Government approached the apex court to vacate the order.
A different report by BusinessDay however, has stated that the apex bank could still enforce the initial deadline as the Supreme court’s ruling is not binding on the CBN.
“Any judgment passed against the Federal Government is not enforceable on the CBN because the CBN Act gives the apex bank complete independence.”
“By operation of the CBN Act, the apex bank cannot be subjected to the direction of any person or office in the land,” an authority on the issue told BusinessDay in a WhatsApp message.
In a bid to stop some establishments that had gone ahead to follow the FG’s order of not accepting some of the old notes, some states have given security officials in their states the go-ahead to clamp down on some of the outlets that have refused to accept the older notes as legal tender.
According to the Punch, Kano, Sokoto, Katsina, Bayelsa, Zamfara and Kwara states had openly directed security agencies to deal with anyone who turned down the old N1000, N500 and N200 notes while some states like Kano state had reportedly shut down a popular supermarket for rejecting the old notes.
The kano state government had also added that the state government would go ahead and institute legal action against Wellcare Alliance Limited, the owners of the defaulting supermarket.
The Katsina state government followed suit by issuing a stern warning to businesses operating in the state warning them to continue receiving the old notes until the Supreme court has given a final verdict on the issue.