Tension as Nigerians await Supreme Court ruling on naira swap deadline

There is palpable tension in the air as Nigerians await the ruling of an original suit filed by three governors challenging the February 10 deadline set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to end the legal tender status of the N200, N500 and N1,000 old notes.

The original suit was filed by governors of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai and his counterparts in Zamfara and Kogi states, Bello Matawalle and Yahaya Bello respectively,

Before the Supreme Court sat on the case on February 15, other states like Lagos, Rivers, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Sokoto, had joined in the suit as co-plaintiffs while Bayelsa and Edo States were joined as co-respondents on behalf of the Federal Government.

During the preliminary hearing, a panel of seven justices, led by Justice John Okoro, adjourned the case to Wednesday February 22 (today).

This particular judgment is one Nigerians are looking forward to in view of the hardship and untold sufferings they have been going through in accessing their funds due to the scarcity of naira notes and the deadline set for the old N500 and N1,000 to cease from being legal tender.

READ ALSO:NAIRA SCARCITY: Confusion reigns as Buhari, Emefiele act contrary to Supreme Court directive

Despite a directive by President Muhammadu Buhari in a speech last Thursday that the old N200 notes would be reissued to run alongside the newly designed notes, the tension has refused to die down.

Frustrated and angry Nigerians have been taking out their anger on the banks in a series of riots across the country, many of them turning bloody, while bank branches in several states have been burnt down and their staff assaulted.

Some Nigerians have lost their lives in the riots while others have reportedly died while queueing up to withdraw as little as N5,000.

The Supreme Court will, therefore, be faced with an arduous task in deciding the case today, but what many Nigerians fear the readiness of the Federal Government to abide by the ruling if it is not in its favour going by the penchant of the President Buhari-led administration’s disdain for obeying court orders

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