EKO HOT BLOG reports that the Ekiti State Government has reacted to the directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Recall that the Ekiti government had last Friday joined other states in the suit instituted against the Federal Government on the implementation of the new naira policy.
Despite the Supreme Court order that old notes should remain legal tender till next Wednesday, President Buhari, in an early morning broadcast on Thursday, declared that old 200 naira notes would co-exist with the new notes till April 10.
The Nigerian leader added that the old 1000 and 500 naira notes were no longer legal tenders and asked Nigerians to deposit them at all designated points of the apex bank.
In a chat with the LEADERSHIP on Friday, Yinka Oyebode, the media aide to Governor Biodun Oyebanji, said plans are on to review the situation, and the government will soon decide on the next line of action.
Oyebode said, “The Attorneys-General actually went to the Supreme Court on behalf of their states. Since it is a joint suit, they will be meeting with a view to advising their principals on the next line of action. They have to review the situation and then get back to their principals since it is not just one attorney general of a state that did it; so many of them are joined in the suit.
“More have joined now and so they have to meet again and then review the situation and then advise appropriately.”
Also, the Lagos State government insisted that the rejection of the old notes as captured in the president’s address, is contrary to the Supreme Court’s stand.
During an appearance on a TVC Business Show, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), said petrol stations, banks, and others who reject the old notes could be prosecuted.
Onigbanjo noted that though President Buhari had enormous powers, he could not repeal the order of the Supreme Court or any other court in the country.
He said the president’s stance is contrary to the Supreme Court’s position that the old and new notes should co-exist until the substantive matter, which will be heard on February 22, is heard.
The senior advocate decried the lingering naira scarcity in the land and the high charges by Point-of-Sale operators that have fostered untold hardship for Nigerians.
He noted that people who are hungry and have their means of livelihood eroded cannot care about any macroeconomic policy or its short or long-term gain.
He said: “There is a contract between a customer and a bank that says when you bring your money to us you can have it back on demand. Any bank that refuses to give the money on demand has violated the terms and conditions of that contract and can be sued. I will advise Lagosians who have experienced suffering and injury as a result of the situation to press charges.
“It is ridiculous that Nigerians are buying their own money, adding that even the producers of goods and services are losing money due to the scarcity of new notes to purchase their products easily.”
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