Supreme Court cancels Dec. 31 Deadline For Old Naira Notes
Supreme Court makes decision regarding old and new naira notes Co-Existing Past December
The Supreme Court has decided that the N200, N500, and N1,000 old and new naira notes are still acceptable forms of legal tenders
Old and new naira notes will coexist as legal tender until further notice, according to a ruling by the highest court.
The Supreme Court mandated that both the original and revised naira notes remain in circulation after December 31, 2023 in a decision made on Wednesday by a seven-member panel chaired by Justice Inyang Okoro.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, filed an application on behalf of the Federal Government, and the Court heard the application before issuing the order.
The administration of President Bola Tinubu submitted a request to the Supreme Court, requesting a prolongation of the old naira notes' legal tender status on November 21.
Recall that the timeframe for phase-out of old naira notes was extended by the apex court in March 2023 to December 31, 2023.
Remember that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration's ban on using the outdated N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes as legitimate legal tender was declared void by the Supreme Court on March 3.
The Court decided that until the end of the year, the old naira notes should be used in addition to the newly designed currencies.
Justice Emmanuel Agim, who drafted and delivered the lead opinion, criticized the Federal Government (FG) for enacting the demonetisation policy through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in a unilateral manner.
The Council of States, the Federal Executive Council, the National Security Council, the National Economic Council, Civil Society Organizations, and other pertinent stakeholders were all criticized by the CBN for taking such a step forward without their consent.
Woes Of Re-designing Of Naria Notes
Early this year 2023, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has instructed Nigerians to use only the new notes and requested that any old N200, N500, and N1000 notes be returned to banks.
The deadline was first set for January 31, 2023, but it was then extended to February 10, 2023 by the apex bank.
When the bank first started to phase out the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes, it removed an average of 37.054 percent of all the notes in circulation.
This development, coupled with the claim of the CBN that it needed to support the country’s security architecture, led to the redesign of the naira.
The CBN has been unable to close a significant hole left by the Central Bank's removal of 94.7% of the value of the Currency in Circulation.
The newly redesigned notes were not available to Nigerians, thus unlike in previous years when they had access to cash and electronic transactions, such a "luxury" no longer exists. This is one of the main reasons why the policy has drawn conflicting opinions.
Prior to that, Nigeria had made some strides in e-transactions, but it had simultaneously implemented cash and cashless regulations.
Even though many people were swarming ATMs in the hopes of withdrawing cash around that time, Nigerians' primary source of currency, automated tellers, seldom ever dispensed the same amount...
Financial institutions said they were cash-strapped, while banks closed their doors on their clients. Even though many Nigerians did not collect them, banks were still using old naira notes at that time. Nigerians had expected both former President Buhari and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele to address the use of old notes in light of the Supreme Court ruling making them legal cash. However, neither speaker fulfilled their promise.
When videos of rotten, decay old Naria notes, stored by some dishonest politicians appeared online, the public reacted angrily.
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Bundles of decayed Naria notes |
For the majority of Nigerians, cashless policy was a terrible time.
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