The Naira Redesign Policy Must Not Be Suspended – Court Rules

 President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Governor of CBN, and 27 commercial banks have been restrained from suspending, stopping, extending, or interfering with the currency swap terminal date of February 10 or issuing any directive contrary to the said deadline by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

The Court presided over by Justice Enenche also granted an order directing the CEOs of the 27 commercial banks and their alter egos to show cause why they should not be arrested and prosecuted for the economic and financial sabotage of the country by their illegal hoarding, withholding, not paying or disbursing the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes despite the supply of such notes by the CBN.

The Motion which was filed by five political parties, namely Action Alliance (AA), Action Peoples Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and National Rescue Movement (NRM), had the judgment being hailed by a cross-section of lawyers, Civil Society Organization and ethnic youth groups, who argued that it was best for the country and would afford the stakeholders opportunity to now concentrate on how to ameliorate the hardship occasioned by the policy.

The Arewa Consultative Youth Movement, Ohanaeze Youth Movement, and Oduduwa Youth Assembly also hailed the FCT High Court order.

According to Arewa Youths, looters of the commonwealth of the people have lost out while Ohanaeze Youths insisted that vote buyers and election riggers have been relegated just as Oduduwa Youth held the view that kickbacks will be very difficult now, corruption greatly limited and the chance for money laundering made slimmer.

A continental civil society organization, the African Centre for Justice and Human Rights (ACJHR), posited that the order of the court was the first step in sanitizing the country’s financial market and help in conducting very credible polls as politicians will find it extremely difficult if not impossible to have access to cash to compromise the 2023 elections.