S’Court hears FG’s application to extend old notes lifespan Nov 30

The Federal Government has approached the Supreme Court to review its judgment that the old N200, N500, and N1000 should be legal tender until December 31, 2023, according to The Nation.

The government wants the apex court to lift its March 3 order that old naira notes should remain legal tender along with new notes till December 31.

The apex court had on March 3 restrained the Central Bank of Nigeria from giving effect to the deadline on the use of old notes.

The seven-member panel of the apex court faulted the policy of the CBN, saying the timing and implementation were defective.

This is a sequel to a suit instituted by the Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara state governments challenging the implementation of the policy.

Thirteen other states later joined the suit as co-plaintiffs.

However, according to the newspaper, in a new suit, the FG is asking the apex court to allow the redesigned notes and the old notes to continue to coexist until the required structures are put in place.

According to the report, the apex court has fixed November 30 for a hearing on the matter.

In the fresh application by the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), the Federal Government is seeking the following reliefs, “An order of this Honourable Court reviewing or varying its consequential order contained in the judgment in Suit No. SC/CV/162/2023 was delivered on the 3rd day of March 2023 to the effect that the old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes should be legal tender until December 31, 2023.

“An order of this Honourable Court varying its consequential order contained the March 3 judgment to the effect that the old 200, 500, and 1,000 Naira notes should be legal tender until December 31, 2023.

“An order of this Honourable Court reviewing and/or varying the said consequential order to read thus: An order that the old versions of 200, 500, and 1,000 notes/currency shall continue to be legal tenders alongside the new or redesigned versions until the government decides to bring the circulation of the old versions to an end… after its consultation with critical stakeholders and after putting all required structures in place.

“And for such order or further orders as this Honourable Court may deem fit to make in the circumstances.”

In an affidavit in support of the Motion on Notice, Assistant Chief State Counsel, Terhemba Agbe, said the CBN Governor, Dr Olayemi  Cardoso, has confirmed that some Nigerians have started hoarding the affected old and new notes in anticipation of the December 31 deadline.