New Naira Note: 10 States Ask Supreme Court To Set Aside Buhari’s Directives

Ten states have filed a suit asking the Supreme Court to set aside President Muhammadu Buhari’s directives on the naira policy.

The state governments in Suit No SC/CV/162/2023, filed on Friday by their counsel, A.J. Owonikoko (SAN), asked the apex court to declare the President’s directives unconstitutional.

The president had on Thursday, declared that the old N500 and N1000 naira would no longer remain legal tender.

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He, however, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to release only the old N200 while the other two denominations remain invalid.

Meanwhile, Some of the governors elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, had kicked against the president’s declaration.

The governors had vowed to seek redress challenging the president’s directive.

The plaintiffs in the suit are the Attorneys General (AGs) of Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Sokoto, and Lagos states.

The respondents are the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the AGs of Bayelsa and Edo states.

The plaintiffs argued that Buhari’s directive extending the validity of old N200 notes for 60 days and his ban on old N500 and N1,000 notes is an “unconstitutional overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” of the Supreme Court being that the case is already before the court.