Naira Scarcity: Massive Protest Breaks Out In Benin As Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing

A protest has erupted at Uselu in Egor Local Government Area of Benin, Edo State, after the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the cash swap policy to February 22, 2023.

Naija News earlier reported that the state governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara had, on February 3rd, dragged the Federal Government to the Supreme Court over the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The states urged the Supreme Court to compel President Muhammadu Buhari, the CBN, and commercial banks to rescind the February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500, and ₦1,000 banknotes as Nigeria’s legal tender.

Speaking during the hearing today, the lawyer standing in for the Kaduna State government, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), drew the FGN’s alleged flouting of the court order last week by the non-compliance to the extension of the use of the old naira notes.

In a swift response, Kanu Agabi and Mahmud Magaji, all SANs who appeared for the federal government, argued that the claim is based on “rumours out there.”

The panel, however, said the issues could not be attended to immediately until all the processes are filed and served. But Mustapha insisted that the FGN is acting in executive recklessness by ignoring the order.

He, therefore, insisted that the extension should subsist.

The panel iinsisted hat the old denominations remain legal tender until a ruling is passed by the court in the next hearing.

However, commercial banks across the country have refused to accept the old currency for a deposit, and scarcity of the new notes still persists.

Some residents took to the streets to protest as they destroyed bank facilities and set tyres ablaze on the street.