Naira Redesign: Again, APC Governor Drags Buhari Govt, CBN To Supreme Court

The Governor Biodun Oyebanji-led Ekiti State Government has officially applied to join as co-plaintiff in a suit against the Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government at the Supreme Court on the Naira redesign policy and the deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Naija News reports that this was made known in a statement on Sunday by the Special Adviser to Oyebanji, Yinka Oyebode.

The application for joinder was filed in the suit, with the number SC/CV/162/2023, on Friday at the Supreme Court by the Ekiti Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata (SAN) seeking three reliefs.

The statement had Attorneys General of Kaduna State, Kogi State and Zamfara State as Plaintiffs, while the Attorney General of the Federation as the defendant.

The reliefs being sought by the Attorney General of Ekiti included leave of the court to join the applicants as a co-plaintiff.

Naming grounds to join the suit, the Ekiti State Government stated the acute shortage in the supply of Naira notes in the state since the announcement of the policy by the Federal Government through the CBN.

The applicant declared that the directive of the Federal Government had affected the livelihood and inflicted excruciating pain and hardship on all Nigerians, including citizens of the state.

The state government said that the directive of the Federal Government had adversely affected the revenue, levies and taxes acruable to the coffers of Ekiti Government as economic activities in the state were now paralysed.

He further averred that the directive of the Federal Government on the Naira redesign had also created palpable anxiety among the citizens of Ekiti.

Another ground was that Ekiti, as a federating state of Nigeria, therefore, had interest in the determination of the Originating Summons in the suit, earlier filed by the three states in the federation.

Ekiti Government said having common interest as other plaintiffs, and also in the outcome of the suit, sought the leave of the court to be joined as a co-plaintiff in order to be bound by the outcome of the suit.

”The sole issue formulated for determination is whether the applicant has made a case for the court to favourably consider the application.

”This was supported by an argument that the court had always been of position that anyone whose presence is crucial and fundamental to a suit must be made a party to the proceedings,” the statement read.