From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Foremost Northern mouthpiece Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has expressed anger with President Muhammadu Buhari for disobeying Supreme court judgment over naira redesign and currency notes scarcity.
The Supreme court had about 10 days ago ordered the federal government to allow old naira notes of N500 and N1000 circulate side by side with the new notes till December 31, 2023 when the old notes will cease to be legal tender.
However, ACF in a statement on Sunday by its Secretary General, Murtala Aliyu warned that disobeying the court judgment could resort to nation wide breakdown of law and order.
“Some ten days ago, the Supreme Court of Nigeria held that the President, Muhammadu Buhari, breached the Constitution of Nigeria in the way he issued a directive to the CBN for the redesign of the Naira without consulting with the National Council of States and the Federal Executive Council.
“It went further to rule that the unconstitutional use of powers by the President on the Naira redesign has breached the fundamental rights of Nigerian citizens in various ways.
“Ten days is long enough time for the government to find its way towards complying with a court order which import is central to the achievement of peace, order and good governance in the country.
“President Buhari is under oath to defend the constitution of Nigeria. As his long term supporters, it will be remiss of us if we fail to warn that the much touted benefits of the Naira redesign can never justify the damage to his credentials as a democrat and a stickler for the rule of law.
“This is quite a part from the real possibility of the crisis morphing into a serious social disorder leading to the possible breakdown of law and order throughout Nigeria. We do not believe nor can we advise him to pay such a heavy price on account of a policy whose immediate goals are not entirely clear to a majority of Nigerians.
“The state Governors have persistently argued that the policy which permitted the CBN to place an embargo on the circulation of old N500 and N1,000 Naira notes while not providing their replacement in sufficient amounts, had triggered severe cash shortage and chaos in the economy.
“It has led to runaway inflation in food and other commodities. Huge crowds and long queues form around bank offices and ATM points across the country as people struggle to get the new cash which have remained extremely scarce. It has triggered riots and other forms of civil unrest.
“Whatever the CBN or anyone else say about the benefits of the policy, which evidently are many, is of little comfort as soon as the highest court in the country has deemed that it is, or, at least the manner of its implementation, breaches the law”. The statement said.