Pandemonium erupted on Monday at Lagos State’s high courts when lawyers and litigants were unable to file court processes using old naira notes. Court officials rejected the old currency, citing banks’ refusal to accept it as legal tender. This development adds a new twist to the ongoing naira crisis.
Account officers at both the Lagos Island and Ikeja high court registries insisted that only new naira notes be used for payments. They explained that attempts to deposit old notes collected from court users into government accounts were denied by banks. A staff member at the Ikeja High Court registry, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they received a directive from their superior to stop collecting old notes after four banks—FCMB, Polaris, UBA, and Fidelity—refused to accept them. Consequently, lawyers and litigants must now bring only new notes.
One affected lawyer, who spoke to The on the phone but did not want his name published, reported that the Osborne Division of Lagos High Court rejected his old notes and turned him away from filing his processes. He lamented that the Supreme Court’s order allowing old notes to remain in circulation was being ignored. “Non‑acceptance of old notes would be a catastrophe for the nation. The highest court’s order is being flouted with impunity. It is obvious that the CBN, especially Governor Godwin Emefiele, is ready to impose a state of anarchy on Nigeria by directing banks against the apex court’s order,” he said.
The Supreme Court had, on 8 February 2023, issued an interim order restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria from enforcing its 10 February deadline for the use of old naira notes. A seven‑member panel led by Justice John Okoro granted the injunction amid an acute scarcity of the newly redesigned ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 notes. The CBN introduced these new notes last December as part of efforts to combat corruption, terrorism, counterfeiting, and related crimes, but Nigerians have struggled to obtain them, leading to scarcity and rising tension across the country.
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