Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has appealed to residents of the state and indeed Nigerians to accept and use the old banknotes alongside new naira notes, adding that rejection is disobedience to a court order.
SaharaReporters had reported that Nigerians despite the Supreme Court judgment extending the validity period of use of old N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes to December 31, 2023, have continued to reject the notes as legal tender.
The apex court on Friday, March 3, voided the CBN Monetary Policy and ordered that the old N200, N500 and 1,000 notes should continue to be used as legal tender till December 31, 2023.
The court further held that the withdrawal limit of money imposed on Nigerians by deposit money banks is illegal and violates the constitutional rights of Nigerians to freely use their property.
But despite the judgment, which many analysts have commended, Nigerians have refused to accept the old Naira notes in their daily transactions, across the country.
Although some banks have started issuing the notes, many customers have vehemently rejected them, arguing that they may become useless after collecting them from the banks.
However, Akeredolu who is one of the governors who sued the Federal Government before the Supreme Court to declare the new naira policy illegal, in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday, stated that the matter of legitimacy and return into circulation of all old naira notes in the nation’s economy has been settled permanently by the Supreme Court of Nigeria and also backed by the appropriate instruments of implementation by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
He regretted that non-acceptance of the old currency notes will rather prolong the suffering of Nigerians and stifle the economy which the court judgement was meant to address and forestall.
He said, “It is a flagrant disobedience to the law and the Central Bank directives.
“I, therefore, wish to inform you that the rejection of the old one thousand naira, five hundred naira and two-hundred-naira notes by us will do us no good. It will stifle our local trade and business transactions, weaken our economy and cause us great harm and avoidable troubles.
“I hereby use this opportunity to appeal to you all, my good people of Ondo State, to embrace and accept the old notes alongside the new notes as stipulated by law. Let us not create needless tension over the matter. Please collect, spend and exchange the old notes without let or hindrance.
“While the Commercial Banks within the State must be commended for receiving and paying with the old notes, I would also like to appeal to them to increase the circulation of all currencies at their disposals and devise a more effective way to decongest the banks, especially at the ATM cash points.”
The governor insisted that the statewide broadcast became imperative because of the need to halt a self-induced pain currently being experienced by “us all in the state on account of the circulation and use of the old naira notes in our economy.”
The statement partly reads: “Credible information reaching me indicates that quite a large number of residents of the state are denied the use of the old currency notes issued by the Central bank of Nigeria. This comes in form of rejection of the old notes as legal tender and means of exchange for goods and services particularly by traders, artisans, transporters, farmers and a large percentage of the operators of the informal sector of our economy in Ondo State.
“This development is unfortunate, undesirable and uncalled for. This is because the matter of legitimacy and return into circulation of all old naira notes in the nation’s economy has been settled permanently by the Supreme Court of Nigeria and also backed up by the appropriate instruments of implementation by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“Our people will recall that the Apex Court, in its recent judgement had among others, ruled that the old currency notes must remain as a legal tender in exchange of goods and services in the nation.
“For avoidance of doubt, the judgment ordered that both the new and old notes should not only coexist but be accepted and used side by side by all Nigerians until the end of this year when the proper elimination and substitution of the old currency notes would have been completed.
“The implication of the Supreme Court judgement is that it removes the daily pain, discomfort and trauma being faced by the people of this country occasioned by the scarcity of the new notes. It is also geared towards ensuring stability, strength and vitality for our economy, particularly the informal economy which involves, on daily basis, the largest number of our people at the grassroots.
“If we may recall that from the onset of the Federal Government’s policy of Naira swap, our position as a state, was clear and unambiguous. We not only condemned the idea and process of implementation of the policy, we also canvassed for its total abrogation, given its timing and methodology. We insisted on the need for the Federal Government to resolve the introduction of the cashless policy in favour of the common man.”
