The Nigerian social media space is abuzz with reactions to the Supreme Court’s judgement on Friday, which ordered that the old N200, N500, N1,000 notes remain in circulation till December 31, 2023.
Reports say justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgement, nullified the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, declaring it as an affront to the 1999 Constitution
The apex court held that the preliminary objections by the defendants (the Attorney General of the Federation, Bayelsa and Edo states) are dismissed as the court has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
Citing Section 23(2)1 of the constitution, the court held that the dispute between the federation and states, must involve law or facts and that President Muhammadu Buhari in his broadcast, admitted that the policy is flawed with a lot of challenges.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai
of Kaduna State and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello were in court to witness the judgement on Friday.
Reacting to this, @Coolphenol said: “Now They should allow the circulation of cash and mandate all the Nigerian banks to upgrade their networks before the deadline.”
@EzekielOla: “CBN and Banks should bring out the new notes too because like play, December will arrive and we will have to deposit them back!”
@Ejiekebel: “After putting us all in hard times, made us buy our own money , people lost their lives in the process ,properties destroyed, the reason for which the naira was redesign was even defeated, now they have come to say that the old notes still remain legal tender.”
@Binxamin: “Only God knows how much I’ve spent as withdrawal charges. Justice in Nigeria is very slow.”
President Muhammadu Buhari’s naira redesign policy has apparently caused untold hardship among Nigerians.
A video which surfaced a few weeks ago shows the moment Nigerians climbed gates to enter a banking hall.
Nollywood actor, Adinma Somadina, who shared the video on his Instagram page, wrote, “See what this woman has to go through just to get into the bank and get money to feed her family; her own money she put in the bank.
“This is funny but it’s our reality and it’s really sad to see.”
Prior to the Supreme Court’s judgement, a video showing Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State going against Buhari’s order and distributing the old naira notes to Nigerians left many people with mixed views.
The governor’s gesture came amidst allegations that he and other politicians had stocked up notes to induce voters in the forthcoming general election.
One of the governor’s agents who shared the old banknotes could be heard in the video saying: “These notes remain legal tender, the governor will come back for an enforcement if banks reject them.”
In the video, the women and men who received their own share of the money sang the governor’s praises as they flaunt the old banknotes in the face of scarcity.
