•Says it won’t be scapegoat for FG, states

•Breakdown of law, order, looms, Kano State cries out

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

The Supreme Court yesterday slated March 3 to deliver judgement on a consolidated suit 16 states filed to nullify the decision of the Federal Government to ban the use of old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes as valid legal tenders.

A seven-man panel of the apex court okayed the matter for judgement after all the parties adopted their briefs of arguments.

The development came on a day the court warned that it would not allow either the  federal government or the aggrieved states to turn the Judiciary to a scapegoat in the legal dispute trailing the new monetary policy that was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

Head of the panel, Justice Inyang Okoro, bemoaned the fact that the dispute had placed the judiciary in the eye of the storm.

“With the way this matter is going, they want to make the judiciary a scapegoat but we can’t allow that. 

“We are going to hear everything and take our decision”, Justice Okoro added.

Though only three northern states- Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara- initially approached the court to challenge the planned full implementation of the Naira swap policy by the CBN, however, at the end of the proceedings on Wednesday, the number of states that declared their interest in the matter increased to 15.

The states that persuaded the apex court to join them as interested parties in the suit, were; Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Sokoto, Jigawa, Kano, Rivers, Nasarawa, Niger, Abia, and President Muhammadu Buhari’s homestate, Katsina.

Plea by Plateau state to be joined on Wednesday was rejected by the court which asked all other states to await its decision on the matter.

All the suits the apex court consolidated and heard together, were marked: SC/CV/162/23, SC/CS/197/23, SC/CV/200/23, SC/CV/210, SC/CV/227, SC/CV/229/23, SC/CV/222/23 and SC/CV/303/23.

Even though only the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, was initially cited as the sole defendant in the matter, however, both Edo and Bayelsa states filed applications to be joined as co-defendants in the case. 

The two states, through their respective Attorneys-General, said they were fully in support of both FG and the CBN.

Meanwhile, Zamfara state, through its lawyer, Mr. Abiodun Owonikoko, SAN, urged the apex court to set-aside the broadcast that President Muhammadu Bimuhari made on February 16, wherein he okayed only the old N200 banknote to remain a legal tender till April 10.

Owonikoko, SAN, argued that the President’s directive was a direct affront on the interim order of the apex court that restrained FG from proceeding with the full implementation of the disputed monetary policy.

He prayed the court not to exercise any discretion in favour of FG since it refused to comply with its interim order.

Likewise, Lagos state, through its AG, Mr  Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, told the court that its case was different, lamenting that the new monetary policy by the CBN constrained it from carrying out its statutory functions as a state.

Lagos maintained that it did not institute its action on behalf of its resident, but for itself as a state of the federation.

On its part, Kano State, while adopting its processes, told the Supreme Court that it was in possession of a security report that warned that it could face a breakdown of law and order due to hardship its residents are facing owing to the ban on use of the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes as valid legal tenders.

The state, through its team of lawyers led by Mr. Sanusi Musa, told the apex court that contrary to provisions of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, President Buhari failed to consult the Federal Executive Council, FEC, before he gave the CBN the nod to invalidate the old Naira notes.

“My lord, no meeting was held with members of the FEC to take any decision on the CBN’s demonetization policy.

“Here, we have a situation where the President only took advice from the CBN Governor who is not a member of the FEC. He sidelined members of the FEC and proceeded with the policy.

“The issue was never discussed at the FEC meeting. Infact, even the Minister of Finance had after the policy was announced, publicly stated that she was not aware of it.

“The President unilaterally exercised Executive power in cahoot with the CBN, without recourse to states that are members of the FEC.

“As it stands my lords, we have a security report from Kano state that there may likely be a breach of law and order”, Musa, SAN, added.

He, therefore, prayed the apex court to void the Naira swap policy and okay the old banknotes to remain valid legal tenders.

Counsel for Rivers State, Mr. Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, also urged the apex court to declare the CBN’s monetary policy as unconstitutional.

He argued that the Constitution made it mandatory that the President must exercise his powers in a manner that would be beneficial to the citizens.

All the plaintiffs urged the court to grant all the reliefs they are seeking against FG.

However, FG’s team of lawyers led by a former AGF, Mr. Kanu Agabi, SAN, and Tijjani Gazzali, SAN, prayed the court to dismiss all the issues that were raised by all the states that are opposed to the Naira redesign policy.

Agabi, SAN, equally prayed the court to dismiss the motion the states filed to void President Buhari’s directive on the old Naira notes.

While insisting that the Federal High Court was the appropriate place for the states to ventilate their grievance, Agabi, SAN, noted that though the plaintiffs sought to commit the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele to prison for allegedly flouting the interim order, they, however, failed to join him or the apex bank as parties to the suit.

“My lords, this suit cannot be commenced here at the Supreme Court. They are crying in the wrong place. The Supreme Court has no original jurisdiction to entertain this matter.

“Moreover, reference was made to the CBN 32 times in the Originating Summons in which they did not join the CBN as a party”, Agabi, SAN, added.

Besides, he told the court that President Buhari’s decision to withdraw the old banknotes was to avert a calamity he said would have befallen the nation.

“Long before the court made the interim order the plaintiffs are relying on, Nigerians were already rejecting the old notes.

“Even in this Supreme Court, they were not accepting it. If you want to file process they don’t accept the old notes.

“In order to save the nation, the President asked that the old banknotes be submitted to the CBN. He only helped the nation to avert calamity”.

Agabi, SAN, further stressed that though the states, except Lagos, claimed that they brought the suit on behalf of their residents, they failed to include the name of any citizen that was adversely affected by the CBN’s policy.

“Not one of them have named a single citizen that was imperiled. No single person complaining was indicated in any affidavit before your lordships,” FG’s lawyer added.

After they had listened to all the parties, the apex court adjourned the matter for judgement.