Alex Enumah in Abuja and Nume Ekeghe in Lagos
The Supreme Court in Abuja, yesterday, held that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until necessary facilities are put in place for their replacement.
A seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice John Okoro, made the declaration while delivering ruling in a motion brought by the federal government.
At yesterday’s proceedings, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, in company of the Acting Director, Civil Appeals, Federal Ministry of Justice, Tijani Gazali, had moved the application seeking for an extension of the apex court’s order, issued earlier, extending the lifespan of the affected old Naira notes till the end of the year.
The immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the ban of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes under the currency redesign policy introduced late last year.
However, following a suit by the states government last year, the apex court had extended the lifespan of the affected old Naira notes till the end of 2023.
In their ruling in the application yesterday, the apex court subsequently granted the request of the federal government and made an order extending the lifespan of the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes.
According to the ruling, the old notes shall continue to co-exist as legal tender with the new/redesigned ones.
While reviewing its earlier order that the old notes should cease from being legal tender by the last day of December 2023, the apex court ruled, “that the old versions of N200, N500, N1000 notes/currency shall continue to be legal tenders alongside the new or designed versions until the government decides to bring the circulation of the old versions to an end after its consultation with critical stakeholders and after putting all required structures in place.”
Other members of the panel were Justices Uwani Aba-Aji, Helen Ogunwumiju, Ibrahim Saulawa, Adamu Jauro, Tijani Abubakar and Emmanuel Agim.
Reacting to the development, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sidi Ali Hakama, in a statement, urged the public to embrace all currencies and also embrace alternative e-channel modes to transact in order to reduce pressure on the use of physical cash.
She states: “Following the order of the Supreme Court on Wednesday, November 29, 2023, granting the prayer of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation to extend the use of old Naira banknotes ad infinitum, the CBN has directed all its branches to continue to issue and accept all denominations of Nigerian banknotes, old and re-designed, to and from deposit money banks.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Supreme Court ordered that the old versions of N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes shall continue to be legal tender, alongside the re-designed versions.
It added: “Accordingly, in line with Section 20(5) of the CBN Act 2007, all banknotes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), will continue to remain legal tender, indefinitely.
“Members of the public are enjoined to continue to accept all naira banknotes (old or re-designed) for their day-to-day transactions and handle these banknotes with the utmost care, to safeguard and protect the lifecycle of the banknotes.”
