The Federal Government has objected to the Supreme Court’s decision to postpone the deadline for the continued use of old Naira Notes on February 10 through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF Abubakar Malami.
Recalls that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, set January 31 as the last day for the old Naira notes to be used as legal tender after redesigning the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
However, the apex bank extended the deadline to February 10 as a result of the challenges in obtaining the newly redesigned notes.
The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, declared last week that the February 10 deadline will not be extended despite riots caused by a lack of currency across the nation.
However, aggrieved governors elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who believe the CBN policy was targeted against the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, earlier in the week met with President Muhammadu Buhari asking him to extend the deadline.
The president demanded for seven days to decide on the matter.
But the governments of Kogi, Kaduna, Zamfara states on Tuesday headed for the court to challenge the CBN, demanding for extension of the deadline.
Ruling in the matter, a Supreme Court panel led by Justice John Okoro, on Wednesday, halted the Federal Government’s move to execute the February 10 deadline.
The AGF, in a preliminary objection filed through his lawyers, Tijanni Gazali and Mahmud Magaji argued that the Supreme Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
The AGF contended that the plaintiffs have equally not shown reasonable cause of action against the defendant.