Isa AbdulMumin, the acting director of corporate communications for the apex bank, made this disclosure in a statement on Monday. Ten days ago, the Supreme Court decided that new and old naira notes should coexist until the end of the year.
“In compliance with the established tradition of obedience to court orders and sustenance of the Rule of Law Principle that characterized the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, and by extension, the operations of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a regulator, Deposit Money Banks operating in Nigeria have been directed to comply with the Supreme Court ruling of March 3, 2023
In light of this, the CBN convened with the Bankers’ Committee and decided that the existing N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes should continue to be accepted alongside the new banknotes through December 31, 2023.
In light of this, all parties involved were enjoined to comply, according to the statement.
The country’s highest court decreed on March 3 that old N200, N500, and N1000 notes will remain legal tender through December 31 2023.
This came about after a lawsuit was filed by 16 Federation states challenging the legality or otherwise of the policy’s introduction.
Related post: Despite the CBN’s order, oil traders refuse outdated naira notes.
The 16 states, led by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara, had asked the supreme court to nullify and set down the policy because it was putting innocent Nigerians through hardship.
After that, the Supreme Court decided that President Muhammadu Buhari had violated the Constitution of the Federation by ordering the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to redesign the Naira in violation of its order from February 8, which was an indication of dictatorship.
The Presidency, CBN, and AGF remained silent following the Supreme Court’s ruling on March 3, confusing many bank customers and Nigerians because the ruling of the top court ran counter to the President’s order from February 16 that old N500 and N1000 notes are banned but old N200 notes are still valid until April 10.
The Presidency, however, broke its quiet on Monday, claiming that the President never instructed the CBN and the AGF to disregard the supreme court’s ruling.
The Presidency stated, “The CBN has no excuse not to comply with court decisions on the justification of awaiting instructions from the President.
The Presidency added that the President is a steadfast upholder of the law and that the “personalized attacks by the opposition and various pundits against the President are unfair and unjust” are both unfair and unjustified.
