Nigerian govt asks Supreme Court to dismiss suit challenging deadline for naira swap

The Federal Government Wednesday night asked the Supreme Court to dismiss a suit filed by three governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the redesign of the naira notes.

The trio of governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Yahaya Bello (Kogi), and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara) had on Monday approached the apex court to restrain the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from enforcing February 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of old naira notes from circulation.

In the application filed by their counsel, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN), the governors asked the Supreme Court to intervene as the deadline would increase the hardship of persons living in the three states.

On Wednesday, a seven-member panel of the apex court temporarily stopped the federal government, CBN, and the 27 banks in the country from ending the use of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 as a legal tender pending the determination of the suit on February 15.

READ ALSO: Reps committee summons INEC chairman, minister over elections, naira swap

However, in a preliminary objection filed by his lawyers, Mahmud Magaji and Tijanni Gazali, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, argued that the Supreme Court lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter.

He stressed that the three governors have not shown a reasonable cause of action against the federal government and other defendants on the matter.

The AGF said: “The claims or reliefs are not against the federation, but the Federal Government and its agency, the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria is distinct from the Federation or the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The plaintiffs have no grievance whatsoever against the Federation of Nigeria.

“This suit has disclosed no dispute that invokes this (Supreme) Court’s original jurisdiction as constitutionally defined.”

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