Naira redesign suit: 7 things Supreme Court said about Buhari

The Supreme Court ruling on Friday extending the validity of old naira notes till December 2023, did not come without harsh words for President Muhammadu Buhari whom Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim described in many words.

In faulting the Naira redesigned policy of the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex court did not mince words in calling Buhari many unsavory names including describing him as a dictator whose actions have brought untold hardship to Nigerians.

In the judgement, the Supreme Court faulted the policy and declared that the Naira notes swap implementation was invalid and an affront to the 1999 Constitution.

Going through the fine details of the judgement, Ripples Nigeria was able to sift out some of the words used by Agim to describe President Buhari.

1. Usurping powers of CBN, other relevant stakeholders

The Supreme Court did not hide its disdain for Buhari’s penchant for usurping the powers of government agencies and relevant stakeholders in issuing directives which the court said was an affront to democratic tenets.

The apex court argued that Buhari unilateraly usurped the powers of the CBN when he issued the directive banning the old naira notes of N1,000, N500 and N200 notes from February 10, 2023.

The court further held that the president ought to have consulted with these stakeholders before “exercising his executive powers of such magnitude”.

“It is obvious that the president did not consult with the council of states, the national economic council and other stakeholders including the national security council”.

2. Abuse of Executive Powers

The court accused President Buhari of “abuse of Executive Powers by issuing directives in respect of the naira re-designing and circulation,” reasoning that the directives were acts of illegalities committed by the President which were against good governance.

3. Disobedience of court rulings

The apex court also described Buhari as a President who has s penchant for disobeying the rulings and judgements of the laws of the land.

Justice Agim took a swipe at Buhari for particularly disobeying the court’s earlier interim order of February 8 to the effect that the old naira is allowed to be in circulation.

4. Inflicting pain and hardship on Nigerians

The court also said the naira redesign policy was anti-people as it has led to Nigerians going through severe hardship and sufferings, while some Nigerians have had to resort to engaging in the middle age practice of trade by barter in a bid to survive.

Read also:2023 ELECTION: Seek legal redress, Buhari implores aggrieved opposition

5. Dictatorial tendencies

The Supreme Court did not shy away from describing the President’s act of disobeying court orders as a sign of dictatorship.

The court frowned at Buhari’s flagrant attempt to overrule the court’s order of February 8 restraining him from going ahead with the February 10 deadline for old naira notes to cease being legal tender after he went ahead on February 16 to affirm the cessation of the old notes being legal tender in a speech where he only approved the continued usage of only the old N200 notes to be used side by side with the new ones.

6. Constitutional breach

The apex court also berated Buhari for breaching the Constitution of the country with the way and manner he went about issuing directives for the re-designing of the Naira by the CBN without recourse to the laws of the land.

The court held that the “unconstitutional use of powers by President Buhari on the Naira redesigning policy has breached the fundamental rights of the Nigerian citizens in various ways, including making them dancing to his inordinate tunes.

7. Threat to democracy

The apex court in the ruling, also said President Buhari’s arbitrary use of powers is a threat to Nigeria’s democracy and one that should not be permitted in a society like Nigeria.

Rounding up the ruling, Justice Agim said, for stronger emphasis that “the unlawful use of executive powers by the President, inflicted unprecedented economic hardship on the citizens by denying them ownership of and access to their money.”

“President Muhammadu Buhari, by usurping the functions of the CBN in the introduction and implementation of the policy, exhibited and took the disobedience to the highest peak with his broadcast of February 16 in which he allowed only N200 notes alone.”

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