The Supreme Court of Nigerian has adjourned the lawsuit instituted against the federal government by states opposed to the naira redesign policy to March 3 for judgment, a week after the presidential election.
Three states: Kano, Kogi and Zamfara had on February 8, dragged the federal government to court over the February 10 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes to be phased out. The suit, which has now been joined by seven other states namely; Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Kano, Sokoto, Ogun and Cross River, is seeking to stop the CBN from implementing the monetary policy.
The Supreme Court had earlier issued an ex parte order restraining the CBN from enforcing its February 10 deadline. But the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami, had argued that the apex court has no jurisdiction to entertain the case because the applicants did not include the CBN in the suit.
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During the arguments on Wednesday, Kanu Agabi, counsel for the federal government, noted that the Supreme Court held that all reliefs are rooted in section 20 of the CBN Act. He further noted that the plaintiffs did not deem it fit to include the CBN as a respondent despite making reference to the apex bank 32 times in their originating summons and despite the fact that seven of the reliefs sought relate to the CBN.
Agabi, SAN, argued that the suit has nothing to do with the interest of the common man as claimed by the plaintiffs.
“The people who said they are fighting for the common man didn’t even bother to bring one common man along to court…even the Supreme Court had stopped collecting old notes before the restraining order was given.
“In all these processes, none of them has mentioned the common citizens. No one is complaining. They have not produced one single citizen who is complaining.
“Our processes have covered all the issues. All the cases should be dismissed. If court finds that we are right that under section 23 of the CBN Act, the defendants are crying in the wrong place, then cases should be dismissed.
“They made references to the CBN 32 times in their originating summons, yet the CBN has not been joined. Long before you made your order, everyone was rejecting the old notes, including this court. The President only acted to save the nation from drifting,” Agabi told the court.
The Kano State Attorney General, Sanusi Musa, SAN, who represented the 10 states, argued that the policy and its implementation did not follow due process.
“This naira redesign policy is an economic policy. It was never discussed in the Executive Council of the Federation. Our affidavit attests to that. The only body that should advise the President on economic policies is the National Economic Council, in which every state is represented,” he said. “The President did not consult the council. He consulted the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, who is not a member of National Economic Council. So, this policy runs foul of the law and the process.”
“This court has a reputation for saving democracy. It must do so again in this case and overrule the President,” he added.
However, the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Okoro, decried the use of the Supreme Court for trivial issues.
“The Supreme Court has been reduced to a customary court. Tenant slaps landlord, case must end here,” he said. He added that the Supreme Court is overburdened with excruciating processes with many cases to handle. The judge therefore called for the constitution to be amended to ease the apex court of the burden.