PUNCH
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has criticised the declarations made by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on new and old naira notes in a national broadcast on Thursday morning as negating the ruling by the Supreme Court.
Gbajabiamila, while commending the President for his intervention, stated that the Supreme Court had ruled that the old N1,000, N500 and N200 notes remain legal tender.
“It is not to the benefit of our country for the Federal Government to act in ways that suggest a wanton disregard for the rule of law,” he stated.
The speaker, in a statement issued on Thursday, which he personally signed, said Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, had failed to publicly admit error in the monetary policy of the apex bank.
The PUNCH reports that Buhari, while addressing the nation, had said the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes were no longer legal tender in the country. He, however, said the old N200 note would be legal tender for the next 60 days, till April 10, 2023, while urging Nigerians to deposit their old N500 and 1000 notes with the CBN.
Gbajabiamila said, “Today, citizens and visitors are experiencing grave and unnecessary hardship across our country. They spend hours and days queuing at banks and teller machines to receive stipends of their own money to afford life’s necessities. This situation is a consequence of the flawed implementation of the naira redesign policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria. It is also the result of decisions made by the Central Bank’s Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, to refuse counsel, be guided by precedent or abide by the decisions of superior courts.
“Section 20(3) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 provides the statutory authority for the Central Bank of Nigeria to initiate and implement policies for the recall of Nigerian currency. The extant provision is reproduced below: Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the Bank shall have power, if directed to do so by the President and after giving reasonable notice in that behalf, to call in any of its notes or coins on payment of the face value thereof and any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this sub-section, shall, on the expiration of such notice cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this Act, shall be redeemed by the Bank upon demand.”
