El-Rufai Hails Supreme Court Over Ruling On Naira Swap Deadline

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has hailed the decision of the Supreme Court to extend the use of the old naira notes beyond the February 10 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Naija News earlier reported that a seven-man panel of the apex Court led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous ruling, restrained the Federal Government, Central Bank of Nigeria and their agents and commercial banks from implementing the February 10 deadline for the now-old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes to stop being a legal tender.

The apex court also stopped the Federal Government, CBN and commercial banks from continuing with the deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 15.

Naija News reports that the suit to stop the CBN from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the phasing out of the old naira notes was filed by the Governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states.

In a statement on Wednesday evening by his media aide, Muyiwa Adeleye, governor El-Rufai, described the court ruling as a welcome development and a victory for the Nigerian people.

The governor also commended the justices of the Supreme Court for their decision and appealed to the federal government to treat the ruling as an opportunity to relieve the sufferings of Nigerians.

El-Rufai stated the governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states were compelled to approach the Supreme Court to mitigate the needless stress imposed on ordinary people and their livelihoods by the ill-timed, incompetent planning and execution of an overnight cashless policy.

He argued that CBN advanced no emergency justification for what he described as the wicked and callous decision to deny people access to their deposited cash.