The Supreme Court ruled on February 8 that the Federal Government and its agencies are not allowed to enforce the February 10 deadline for the usage of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
This explanation was required in response to a complaint made by Mr. Abdulhakeem Mustapha, the counsel for the states of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara, that the Federal Government and its agencies had disobeyed the order and had purportedly ordered the rejection of the old notes.
Mustapha said the plaintiff sought that the court take action against the respondent to preserve the integrity of the court in a notice of non-compliance with the court’s order issued on February 8.
Mustapha was instructed by the seven-member panel, which was presided over by Justice John Okoro, to submit a thorough application so that he could present his complaints and give the respondent time to react properly.
The court’s order didn’t need to be renewed, according to Justice Okoro.
He pointed out that the order from the court on February 8 still stands since the petition for injunctions filed by the plaintiff has not yet been considered. This is because the order was made pending the outcome of the motion, he said.
The Supreme Court additionally set February 22 for the hearing of the lawsuit brought by the states of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara contesting the legality of the Federal Government’s naira swap scheme.
The court chose the date after joining the Attorneys General of Katsina Lagos, Cross River, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Sokoto states as co-plaintiffs in the earlier suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states.
The Attorneys General of the States of Edo and Bayelsa were also added by the court as co-respondents. Both states joined the federal government’s side.
Prior to the hearing scheduled for next Wednesday, the court ordered all parties to file their required paperwork.