The Supreme has insisted on its February 8, order restraining the Federal Government from full enforcement of the February 10, deadline for the circulation of the old Naira notes.
In its sitting on Wednesday, a seven member panel of justices led by Justice John Okoro said that the order of February 8 is still in force and does not need any further renewal even as the court adjourned yearning to February 22.
Justice Okoro made the pronouncement while reacting to a complaint by the lawyer to the Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN) that the order of Feb 8 was ignored by the CBN, the Supreme Court
The lawyer said that the Federal Government and its agencies did not comply with the court order and had shown Executive rascality rejecting the old notes contrary to the letters of the order.
”That order has been flouted by the government. We are talking of executive lawlessness here. We have filed an affidavit to that effect…We want the court to renew the order for parties to be properly guided.”
The lawyer prayed the Supreme Court to take action against the Federal Government for flouting the February 8 order to protect the dignity of the court.
Reacting to Mustapha’s plea for a renewal of the order, the Justices held that the order was meant to be in force till the determination of the notion on notice and therefore was still subsisting.
Justice Okoro then asked Mustapha to file a proper application to present his complaints before the court so that the respondents can respond accordingly.
On February 8, Justice John Okoro led a seven man team of justices to temporarily stop the government’s deadline while ruling in an exparte application brought by three northern governments of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states on Wednesday.
The three northern states had prayed the Supreme Court to grant them an interim injunction stopping the Federal Government either by itself or acting through the CBN, the commercial banks or its agents from carrying out its plan of ending the timeframe within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender on Feb. 10, in a motion ex-parte filed on their behalf by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN).
Thee Attorneys-General and Commissioners of Justice of the three states are the plaintiffs while the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), is the sole Respondent
Justice Okoro, who ruled on the motio exparte granted the application as prayed.
“An order of Interim Injunction restraining the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on Feb. 10,, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denomination of the naira may no longer be legal tender pending the hearing and determination of their motion on notice for interlocutory injunction,” he ruled.
