Indication at the weekend was that there is yet no respite in sight for the ordinary Nigerians and operators of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) whom their daily livelihood has been rubbished and standard of living lowered because of the extreme cash squeeze in the Nigerian economy caused by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Naira redesign policy.
Some Nigerians spoken to at the weekend said that the hardship they are passing through was worsened by the confusing and conflicting orders from the Federal Government, the State Governments and the Order of the Supreme Court of Nigeria;
Adding that they are yet to feel the impact of the recirculation of the old N200 notes ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari. Ms Bola Aderemi, Point of Service (PoS) at Ikeja told the Sunday Telegraph that about one week after President Buhari ordered the recirculation of old N200 notes, both the old and the new N200 notes have unavailable as most of the banks still ration what they pay out to customers.
“I have been going to my bank (name withheld) everyday but the maximum amount a customer can withdraw per day is N5, 000; sometimes N2, 000. In most cases the cash they have doesn’t even go round.
“Even, for you qualify to get that amount in a day, you will have to abandon all you are doing that day and go to the bank as early as 5:00 am and stay in a queue till about 2:00pm.
If you come to the bank anytime from 9:00am you won’t be lucky.” Ms Aderemi who disclosed that she is a single mother, further lamented that her PoS business has already crashed due to the cash squeeze, even as she could no longer be able to feed her two children.
The Supreme Court on Friday in its judgment on the Naira redesign case brought against the Federal Government by some State Governments extended the deadline for the use of the old banknotes of N200, N500 and N1,000 till December 31, 2023 but the the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has fixed March 20 and 21st, to review the decision.
The two-day 12-man Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting is expected to review the decision of the court and the implications in the economy.
A seven-man panel of the Supreme Court in a unanimous decision stopped the federal government from ending the implementation of the naira swap police until December 31.
Justice Emmanuel Agim who read the judgment held that the correct process for the redesign policy had not been followed. It faulted President Muhammadu Buhari for introducing the policy without the Council of States, the Federal Executive Council, the Civil Society and other relevant stakeholders.
“The directive given by the President is invalid. Such a directive is not just handed down after personal conversation with the governor of CBN Central Bank of Nigeria,” the court held.
Agim, therefore, stated that the old naira notes will remain valid until December 31, 2023, to relief citizens. Now the judgment has effectively overruled CBN and the Federal Government ban on the use of old N500, and N1000 notes and also the April 10 validity of N200 notes.
However, the MPC meeting consists of the Governor of the Bank CBN who shall be the Chairman; four Deputy Governors of the Bank; two members of the Board of Directors of the Bank; three members appointed by the President and two members appointed by the Governor.
The MPC meeting, which is scheduled to take place in Abuja, will be chaired by the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele. The committee is also expected to review the current state of the economy and make decisions on key policy issues such as interest rates, exchange rates, and inflation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mike Osatuyi, National Operations Controller of the independent Petroleum Marketers Association of (IPMAN), on his part, commended the Supreme Court ruling. Osatuyi, however, said that lPMAN’s members would abide by the court order, but would “await Federal Government’s directive”. “For us at IPMAN, we are law abiding marketers and we are ready for whatever the directives are.
“The order has just been passed, let’s await the government’s reaction before taking any further actions,” he said.
