• Three APC governors sued FG for naira shortage
• Obaseki supports the cashless policy
• The protesters accused the banks of hoarding, selling naira to politicians to buy votes
• 14 political parties have threatened to boycott the elections if the naira is redesigned, the cash withdrawal policy is cancelled
• NACCIMA: The CBN should have introduced the N5,000 note without redesigning the naira
With three days until the expiry of February 10, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), High Court, has forced the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and 27 commercial banks to proceed with the full implementation of the naira redesign policy. , prevented President Muhammadu Buhari from extending his deadline.
On the motion of four political parties, namely Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and National Rescue Movement (NRM), the court, presided over by Judge Eleojo Enenche, also gave orders. directed the CEOs of 27 commercial banks and their alter egos to show cause why they should not be arrested and prosecuted for sabotaging the economy and finances of the country by stealing, withholding, non-payment or payment of the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes. paper money despite the supply of these notes by the CBN.
Delivering its judgment, yesterday, in a suit marked FCT/HC/CV/2234/2023, the court restrained the CBN from extending the period of use of the old naira notes pending the determination of the claim. The order will remain in effect for seven days until the notification proposal is heard on February 14.
“An interim injunction order is hereby made to restrain the defendants, whether themselves, their staff, agents, officers, bank interfacing or any person from delaying, terminating, extending, varying or disrupting the expiry date of the old N200, N500 bank notes and N1 ,000, which is February 10, 2023, pending the hearing and determination of the motion by notice,” the court said.
The judge also made an interim order “directing and ordering the defendants that themselves, their staff, agents, officers, bank interfacing or anyone described to comply, implement and effect the currency redesign and restructuring of the old N200, N500. and N1 bank notes ,000 on or before the last day of February 10, pending hearing and determination of the motion by notice.
The court further directed the bank heads, executive officers, managing directors and/or alter egos “to immediately show cause why they should not be arrested and prosecuted for economic and financial sabotage of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by illegal acts. hoarding, withholding, or paying or disbursing new N200 , N500 and N1000 bank notes, being legal tender of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to their respective customers, despite the supply of these currency notes by the second and third defendants, thus leading to the current scarcity of currency notes in circulation.”
The court order has rendered useless all the efforts behind it, especially by the governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who managed to force the hand of the President to reverse the naira exchange policy or at least extend the deadline.
Earlier, yesterday, three APC governors sued the Federal Government over the naira redesign policy. Governors Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court.
The states are seeking a declaration that the Federal Demonetization Policy currently being implemented by the CBN under the direction of President Buhari is not in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), CBN Act. , 2007 and actual law on the subject.
He also asked the court to make a declaration that the three-month notice given by the government and the CBN, the expiry of which will make the old notes inadmissible as valid tender, violates the provisions of section 20 (3) of the CBN Act 2007, which stipulates that the notice reasonableness must be provided before the policy and the limit is not outside that provided under Section 22(1) of the CBN Act 2007.
The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Kaduna State, Aisha Dikko, in an affidavit, averred that although the naira redesign policy has been introduced to push the cashless policy of the Federal Government, it is not all transactions that can be conveniently carried out through electronic means. .
Dikko also pointed out that the Federal Government has implemented the policy within a narrow and unworkable time frame, and this has affected the people of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states as well as their governments, especially since new records are not available for use. by the people, as well as the state government.
“If the majority of the indigenes of the plaintiff country, those who live in rural areas cannot exchange or deposit old naira money because there are no banks in the rural areas where the majority of the country’s population lives.” he said.
No date has been set for the hearing.
The governor of the ruling party had met with the President last week and asked that the old and the new records coexist. The President told them to give them seven days to look into the issues arising from the redesign of the naira.
However, after the meeting, the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, warned that the apex bank is not considering changing the February 10 date for the old notes to become invalid.
But the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has supported the Federal Government’s policy, saying moving the country’s economy to a cashless system should be supported by Nigerians because it is the best thing for the country’s banking system.
Obaseki said this in Benin, yesterday, when he spoke to reporters after a meeting with CBN officials and senior management of banks in the country on how to find a solution to the naira note shortage.
He said: “The Edo State Government has no problem with the policy of moving our economy to a cashless economy. The policy should be supported, it is the best thing for our banking system.
“However, we want to make sure that we do this painlessly and smoothly, increasing communication with our people to reduce the fear because when people go to the bank to collect cash, they want to spend money. .”
Obaseki said his administration would join forces with the CBN and bankers’ committees in the country to monitor the situation and resolve the issue, adding that the meeting was called out of concern for the plight of the people.
On his part, Blaise Ijebor, the Director of the CBN, said he is in Benin to encourage people to use alternative methods to pay for business transactions.
“You can use your ATM card, bank application or USSD code to pay. So, use alternative means as much as possible, but we will ensure that there is a supply of cash in the next day or two,” he said.
He added: “We ask banks to pay up to N20,000 but because of the volume, some banks may not be able to pay N20,000 at once. So, if they can pay N5,000 or N10,000, use it to manage for a day or two . We’ll provide the supplies.”
Protesters under the auspices of the Pro-Nigeria Group, yesterday, stormed parts of Abuja, including the Unity Fountain and the CBN headquarters in solidarity to support the policy on the redesign of the naira. The protesters, in large numbers and carrying various placards, threw their weight behind the policy, saying it would help solve the problem of vote-buying in the upcoming 2023 general election.
Speaking to journalists, Mr. Isaac Balami, convener of Pro Nigeria Group, said the group supports the CBN policy because it is good for the economy.
“CBN has given us an extension of 10 days, but the politicians are trying to play politics, to blackmail CBN and maybe blackmail the President to repeat what he said. We are here to support the monetary policy. This policy will stop vote buying. Vote buying is the main problem and has destroyed Nigeria. It’s enough,” he added.
PNG has accused commercial banks of stealing the new currency issued by the apex bank and selling it to politicians at black market rates and called on the CBN to ensure that all banks in breach of the directive are properly dealt with.
The group appealed to Nigerians to be patient as they expect the CBN to overcome the current congestion.
Meanwhile, 14 of the 18 registered political parties participating in the general election have threatened to withdraw all participation from the polls if the Federal Government and the CBN cancel or suspend the cash withdrawal limit and the naira redesign policy.
This position was announced yesterday at a press conference by the Nigerian Political Party Chairmen’s Forum and Candidates’ Forum for the 2023 General Elections. The candidate’s forum includes candidates for President, National Assembly, Governorship and House of Assembly.
The text of the press conference was read by the spokesperson of the forum, Kenneth Udeze and the Chairman of the National Action Alliance.
The forum stated: “We hereby declare a resolution that at least 14 of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general election and will indeed withdraw all our participation from the electoral process if the currency policy is delayed or canceled or if the deadline changed again.
Defending the policy, the forum stated that the policy would improve the credibility of elections. “In fact, if the policy is fully implemented and without changing the February 10 deadline, President Buhari will have taken a huge step towards fulfilling his promise to the world that the 2023 general election will be credible, free and fair.”
The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) says the CBN should introduce the N5,000 note instead of embarking on a currency redesign.
Speaking yesterday during an interview, Sola Obadimu, director general of NACCIMA, said there would be less pressure on Nigerians if the naira redesign policy was implemented differently.
Obadimu said the creation of a new N5,000 note would eliminate the money in circulation without creating any inconvenience. He said the CBN would also spend money on printing new notes.
“If I am the CBN governor, all I will do is introduce the N5,000 note. That will help to mop up money in circulation without the kickbacks we get. Because of the higher denomination, the number of bills printed is less.”
On the CBN’s cashless policy, the NACCIMA DG said it was a commendable initiative because it was “where the world is going”.
He, however, expressed reservations with the level of preparedness of the government, especially in the aspect of internet infrastructure.
“For example, when a financial transaction declines, you will be debited and the bank cannot reimburse you for three weeks even if the transaction is to the same bank,” Obadimu said.
“So, for urban networks to improve and for rural areas, the government should invest heavily in infrastructure so that every part of Nigeria will be digitized.”