Naira Redesign: Supreme Court Restrains FG From Implementing Deadline On Old Notes Validity

The federal government has been restrained by the Supreme Court of Nigeria from implementing the February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to stop being legal tender.

The government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have been under pressure to address the escalating chaos in the country over the scarcity of cash.

The ruling means that the old naira notes continue to be legal tenders and should come as a reprieve to citizens who have been at the receiving end of the hardship brought about by the apex bank's recent policy.

A motion ex-parte was filed on February 3 by three northern states, Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara, to halt CBN's redesign policy and a seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro in a unanimous ruling, granted an interim injunction restraining the FG, CBN, commercial banks etc from implementing the February 10, deadline.

According to the court, the federal government, CBN, and commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice on notice in respect of the issue on February 15.