Lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome explained the Supreme Court’s judgment that restrains the Federal Government from implementing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s February 10 ultimatum, which would have rendered the old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes no longer legal tender. Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday night, Ozekhome clarified that the Supreme Court has only paused the implementation of the deadline; it has not decided the underlying matter. He said the apex court issued the judgment to prevent the subject of the suit from being truncated, citing the precedent set in *Kotoye v. CBN*, which allows an interim order in cases of extreme urgency, even ex‑parte, to preserve the issues for full hearing.
Ozekhome illustrated the effect of the ruling: “If the Supreme Court had not made that order and the only order in force was that of the High Court, the CBN would have stopped the use of all old notes by the 10th of this month. But the Supreme Court said, ‘Just wait, let us listen to you people,’ not that it has found Zamfara, Kogi and Kaduna states to have a valid, actionable case, since the action is still being challenged with a preliminary objection.” He likened the court’s approach to “driving away the fox before blaming the fowl for wandering too far into the forest.”
The seven‑man Supreme Court panel, led by Justice John Okoro, unanimously granted an interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from enforcing the CBN’s February 10 deadline for swapping old naira notes with new ones. The injunction followed an ex‑parte motion filed on behalf of the three northern states—Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara—who, on February 3, sued to halt the CBN’s policy. Earlier, a Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the CBN and commercial banks not to interfere with, suspend, or extend the February 10 deadline for the expiration of the old notes.
Ozekhome noted that lower courts could not intervene while the apex court was deliberating. “Even though a High Court or Federal High Court granted an order telling the CBN, ‘You can stop this naira swap policy on the 10th of February as you have decided to do,’ the Supreme Court today said, ‘Hello? Don’t do that! Allow it to continue. Come back on the 15th of February and let us hear you people.’” He explained that the Supreme Court’s judgment effectively places the old and new naira in the same position and that any decision by the court will affect not only the three states that brought the suit but all states and their attorneys‑general.
Consequently, Ozekhome suggested that the Supreme Court should consider acting *suo motu*—even if the states did not apply to be joined—to include all the federation’s attorneys‑general, thereby allowing the matter to be resolved once and for all.
Comments are closed for this story.