Supreme Court advises CBN to ease cash crunch, adjourns to February 22
Sopuruchi Onwuka
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reiterated its order for the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to remain in the nation’s legal tender until the determination of the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states challenging the propriety the naira swap policy of the Federal Government.
Justice John Okoro who presides over a seven-member bench of the court also advised the counsel to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Kanu Agabi (SAN), to demand his clients to ensure that adequate cash is in circulation to ease the prevailing crunch and alleviate the suffering of the people.
Both the clarification of its earlier order on Naira swap deadline extension and appeal for release of more cash into the market came in response to claims by the lawyer to Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN) that the Fed Govt and its agencies have failed to comply with the February 8 Supreme Court order on continued use of the old currency notes.
Meanwhile the government position to drain cash from the market ahead of the 2023 polls has polarized the governors into both camps with some now supporting the government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) while other stand against the apex bank in the suit.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer had told the court that he and his clients have filed a fresh affidavit to have the court to renew the order for parties to be properly guided.
But Justice John Okoro asked Mustapha to file a proper application to put forward his complaints and to enable the respondent respond appropriately. He said there was no need for a renewal of the court’s order, noting that the order made by the court on February 8 was made pending the determination of the motion for injunctions filed by the plaintiff. He noted that the order still subsists since the motion was not yet heard.
The court fixed February 22 for hearing of the suit, 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 court also joined the Attorneys General of Edo and Bayelsa states as co-respondents after they elected to take side with the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) originally listed as the sole respondent.
The court also ordered that the suits filed by separately by Nasarawa, Rivers and Kano states on the same issue be consolidated with the one filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states. It also ordered parties to file all necessary documents before the next hearing.
Before adjourning, Justice Okoro took Kanu Agabi to hearty banter, advising him to tell his clients including the CBN to ensure the availability of currency for the people.
“Tell your client to let people have money if they go to the ATM and the plaintiffs will come and withdraw the case. Make money available to the poor masses. You should know that a hungry man is an angry man. I say no more.”
In response, Agabi blamed the prevailing situation on poverty, explaining that many Nigerians including himself “don’t have money. I don’t have money too.”
Ahead of the court sitting in Wednesday, the spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, had had said on Tuesday that the timing of government’s Naira redesign and the related cash crunch would affect the chances of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming February 25 and March 11, 2023 general elections.
