•Businesses, transporters reject old naira notes
By Chinwendu Obienyi
Seventy two hours after the Supreme Court’s weekend ruling, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to react or affirm the validity of the old N500 and N1000 as legal tender.
The Supreme Court had on Friday ruled that the old N200, N500 and N1000 will remain valid as nation’s legal tender till December 31, 2023.
The apex court had earlier ordered the Federal Government to allow the old and new Naira notes co-circulate after the CBN’s February 10 deadline.
On the back of the ruling 16 Nigerian state governors pushed back against the policy, by suing the Federal Government and praying the court to put a hold on the policy.
The Supreme Court then ruled in favour of the governors by stopping the government from implementing the February 10 deadline. But there was uncertainty over whether the court had jurisdiction, as there were also questions on whether the CBN, an independent body, should obey the court’s judgment as it was not a party to the suit.
Eventually, the the Federal Government implemented the deadline, only conceding that old N200 notes would remain legal tender for another 60 days.
In a national broadcast, President Muhammadu Buhari noted that N500 and N1000 has stopped being legal tender while adding that that the CBN undertook the currency redesign on his orders.
The CBN later issued a statement affirming the invalidity of the old notes except for N200. A look at the apex bank’s website revealed that it remained silent on the apex court’s ruling, however, its portal for depositing the old N1000 and N500 notes remained open.
However, Nigerians are worried and wondering whether the CBN will comply with the Supreme’s court ruling or ignore it like it did the last time.
Investigations done by Daily Sun over the weekend revealed that business owners at areas like Ajah, Orile, Alaba insisted that they had lost a whole lot since the Naira scarcity started, adding that they would rather wait on the Federal Government or the CBN to release a statement backing up the ruling despite the court’s insistence that the currency redesign policy could not be handed down after a private conversation with the CBN governor.
Emeka Felix, a dealer in electronic gadgets, said, “It is enough that the system is bastardised and now the supreme court has come with this one. I do not think Nigeria knows what it is doing again. We are now the laughing stock of other nations. The government has failed us all. I am still going to stick to having money transferred to my account for transactions.
Also speaking, Eze Calistus, a driver, said he will not be taking old notes from passengers because these old notes have not been in circulation all these time.
For her part, Mrs Okolie Cynthia, a retailer, said, “According to the IMF, CBN’s rule exceeds that of the country and even the President and so Supreme Court’s ruling does not matter. It is pure propaganda and they did not rule this before the elections. But after the Presidential elections, they have now come to tell Nigerians that we can keep spending the old notes till December 31. Personally for me, I am rejecting the old notes. They used billions to print the new notes and now they are telling us this nonsense.
If the Supreme Court ruling stood, then banks should notify us”
Meanwhile business operators in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, say they are anxious to hear from President Muhammadu Buhari and/or the Central Bank over validity of old Naira notes.
Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling that the old N500 and N1000 notes remained legal tender till Dec. 31, theysaid it was risky to accept the notes until directive from either the Presidency or the CBN, stressing their decision was borne out of the controversy that followed a similar Supreme Court pronouncement that was not adhered to.
A taxi driver, Mr Abubakar Umar, said he was hopeful that Buhari or the CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele would speak within the week on whether or not they should go ahead to accept the old notes.
He said until such directive was given, he would insist that customers paid him only with new N500 or N1000 notes.
A petty trader, simply identified as Madam Uloma, also said she won’t accept the old notes, “until I hear from the horse’s mouth I will not collect the old notes”.
Uloma said she would not want to go through the stress she went through when the notes were declared invalid by the CBN.
A resident, Mr Fred Oyibo, said he was excited when the pronouncement validating the use of the old notes was made by the Supreme Court.
Oyibo, however, expressed dissapointment that he could not use the old notes he had, adding that business operators are still rejecting them in spite of the ruling.
“I have about N3000 of the old N1000 notes with me and I felt elated when the court gave the ruling, but to my dismay the money was rejected when I went out to buy a few items.
“I tried informing them that the ban had been lifted by the Supreme Court and they asked if the CBN had spoken.
“I further tried to educate them that once the Supreme Court gives a ruling, everyone was bound by it but they insisted on hearing from the Executive before taking any action.
“At that point I got discouraged and went back home, and as I speak with you I still have the money with me,” he said.
NAN reports that following the redesigning of N200, N500 and N1,000 notes by the CBN on, Jan. 31 was announced as deadline for use of the old notes.
The Jan. 31 deadline was, however, met with protests from Nigerians, forcing the CBN to extend the deadline to Feb. 10.
The extension was equally met with outrage, leading to President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the old N200 note should be used alongside the redesigned one for a period of time.
Meanwhile, governors of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States had approached the Supreme Court on Feb. 3, requesting that the extention should be beyond Feb. 10 as announced by the CBN.
Following the suit, a seven-member panel of the apex court, led by John Okoro, gave the order suspending the Feb. 10 deadline till Feb. 15, when the suit would be determined.
The case was however not determined on Feb. 15 as it was adjourned till Feb. 22 and subsequently to March 3, when judgment was delivered.
In the judgment, the Supreme Court ruled that all the old denominations, including the N500 and N1000 notes, remained valid till Dec. 31.