President Muhammadu Buhari
Naira redesign: NBA tells Buhari to comply with Supreme Court judgement
The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately direct compliance with the terms of the orders made by the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered on March 3, 2023, in respect of the Naira redesign policy.
The NBA President, Mr Yakubu Maikyau, in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the association Mr Akorede Habeeb Lawal said, while the association supports the objective of the policy and offers its platform to do whatever is within its remit in the fight to curb corruption, counterfeiting, vote buying and other criminal activities, the NBA is concerned about the apparent hardship currently experienced by Nigerians and it is absolutely necessary to look into that without compromising the laudable objective of the policy.”
The statement, however regret that the implementation of the policy in the manner it was being carried out will bring more loss, stifle economic activities, cause panic and generally result in more hardship for the same Nigerians the policy is meant to serve.
The statement reads, “The NBA, after a review of the experiences of other countries, particularly India, Australia, EU and the United Kingdom on similar endeavours, presented our perspectives and recommendations to the CBN Governor on the implementation of the policy.
“We stated that; without any intention of challenging the policy which we have admitted at the onset to be laudable, we have considered the provisions of the relevant laws vis-a-vis the available logistical, infrastructural and manpower support required for the implementation of the policy, we are of the humble opinion that, there is a need for an urgent review.
“In our view, the necessary logistical, infrastructural and manpower support, required for the successful implementation of the policy are in short supply and should be greatly improved upon if they are to be leveraged for full implementation of the policy with minimal loss or economic hardship”.
After making reference to the provisions of section 20(3) of the CBN Act 2007, the NBA observed, that, “The power of the CBN to call in any of its notes or coins otherwise described as demonetisation, can only become operational upon the directive of the President after giving reasonable notice for the recall. From the clear wording of the section, these two conditions must coexist before the power to call any of the notes or coins by the CBN can crystallise.
“The questions that have trailed this policy from our consultations include; was there a directive of the President? And where there was one, could it be said that the notice, given the prevailing circumstances was reasonable? The questions seek to interrogate the process leading to the policy and justify the need for an extension of the timelines for its implementation.
“There seems not to be any information in the public domain as to what would happen to the old currency in the possession of Nigerians, by or after 13 January 2023. Section 20 (3) quoted above requires that: any note or coin with respect to which a notice has been given under this Subsection, shall, on the expiration of the notice, cease to be legal tender, but, subject to section 22 of this Act, shall be redeemed by the Bank upon demand,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo has said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, told him commercial banks can dispense and accept old notes from customers.
The governor then threatened to report banks not receiving old Naira notes in the state.
Soludo, a former CBN governor, therefore, urged residents to transact with the old notes and report banks/business outfits who refuse to accept it in the state.
Commercial banks have been directed by the Central Bank to dispense old currency notes and to also receive same as deposits from customers. Tellers at the commercial banks are to generate the codes for deposits and there is no limit to the number of times an individual or company can make deposits.
The Governor of the CBN gave the directive at a Bankers’ Committee meeting held on Sunday, 12th March, 2023. The Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, personally confirmed the above to me during a phone conversation on Sunday night. Residents of Anambra are therefore advised to freely accept and transact their businesses with the old currency notes (N200; N500; and N1,000) as well as the new notes.
Residents should report any bank that refuses to accept deposits of the old notes. Anambra State Government will not only report such a bank to the CBN, but will also immediately shut down the defaulting branch.
