The Supreme Court docket of Nigeria has dominated that the outdated 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes stay in circulation till Dec. 31, 2023, successfully nullifying the naira redesign beforehand introduced by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. The introduction of redesign sought to part out the usage of the outdated naira notes.
A seven-member panel of the court docket, led by John Okoro, said in a unanimous judgment that President Buhari issued the directive with out session.
The court docket stated the federal authorities ought to have consulted with the state authorities by way of related our bodies, together with the Nationwide Council of States and the Nationwide Financial Council, earlier than embarking on such a challenge.
The Supreme Court docket went on to declare Buhari’s directive withdrawing the outdated notes from circulation as unlawful and an affront to the 1999 Structure. The court docket additionally issued one other order nullifying it and prolonged the authorized tender standing of the forex notes till Dec. 31.
The pronouncement is amongst 9 declarations and orders issued by the Supreme Court docket in a judgment on the go well with filed by some state governors difficult the president’s directive.
In late 2022, Buhari ordered the withdrawal of the 200, 500 and 1,000 naira notes by Jan. 31, 2021 after introducing the newly designed variations of the banknotes, which had been in brief provide.
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The directive, described as a “demonetization coverage” by some state governors against it, has created a shortage of banknotes, creating disruption within the monetary system and hardship for hundreds of thousands of residents.
The lack to entry money because of the shortage of banknotes additionally affected many companies.
With an already present pegged most ATM withdrawal quantity of 20,000 naira ($43), this has additionally affected crypto customers in Nigeria who need to change tokens to fiat for native enterprise transactions and day-to-day expenditures.
Nonetheless, this new ruling by the apex court docket has shed hope on the supply of money for transactions.
