The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily stopped the withdrawal of old Naira Notes from February 10 as fixed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
A seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro, halted the move in a ruling in an exparte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara.
The three states had specifically applied for an order of Interim Injunction restraining âthe federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on Feb. 10, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunctionâ.
Delivering ruling in the motion, Okoro, held that after a careful consideration of the motion exparte this application is granted as prayed.
âAn order of Interim Injunction restraining the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on Feb. 10,, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunctionâ.
He accordingly adjourned until Feb. 15, for hearing of the main suit.
Moving the application on Wednesday, counsel to the applicants, Mr A. I. Mustapha, SAN, urged the apex court to grant the application in the interest of justice and the well-being of Nigeria.
He stated that the policy of the government has led to an âexcruciating situation that is almost leading to anarchy in the land â.
While he referred to a Central Bank of Nigeriaâs (CBN) statistics which put the number of people who donât have bank accounts at over 60 percent, Mustapha lamented that the few Nigerians with bank accounts canât even access their monies from the bank as a result of the policy.
A port by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the senior lawyer further argued that unless the Supreme Court intervenes the situation will lead to anarchy because most banks are already shutting down their operations.
