Nigerian AG Challenges Supreme Court Ruling on Currency Deadline
Nigeria's government is
challenging a Supreme Court order that suspended Friday's deadline for the
phaseout of old currency notes, saying it lacks jurisdiction. The issue of when
the old currency becomes invalid has turned into a significant issue as Nigeria
prepares for elections a little more than two weeks away.
On Wednesday, a
seven-member panel of the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by
three Nigerian state governors to stop the central bank from phasing out the
old notes by this Friday, February 10.
Nigeria's attorney
general, Abubakar Malami, challenged the Supreme Court's ruling in a
countersuit filed by his legal team late Wednesday and called for the ruling to
be dismissed.
Malami argues the power
to rule on the suit is within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court, not
the Supreme Court.
Hours to the deadline,
anxiety is growing among citizens over the uncertainty.
Martin Obono, a lawyer
and team lead at TAP initiative, a nonprofit that promotes government
accountability and transparency, is concerned about the uncertainty of the
situation.
"Following the
government's antecedents in terms of not respecting court judgment and court
orders, I am not sure the federal government is going to obey whatever the
Supreme Court has said, especially in an instance where it has a lot of
political undertones,” he said. "That obviously is going to have an effect on
what Nigerian people should do or expect.
Obono said he
encourages Nigerians to go to the bank and change their currency.
"This is a judgment
that you can't trust,” he said.
The governors behind
the lawsuit, from Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, say the country needs more
time to transition to new 200-, 500- and 1000-naira notes introduced in
December. They point out that a cash shortage is leading to attacks on banks.
Critics say the
governors and other politicians who support the Supreme Court are doing so in
order to enable vote-buying with the old currency ahead of the February 25
polls.
But Olumuyiwa Onlede,
executive secretary of the Citizens Awareness Against Corruption Initiative,
said even though politicians may be acting for selfish reasons, ordinary
Nigerians are also affected by the impending deadline.
"This policy is a
very good policy but what I think the attorney general is not looking at is the
resultant effect of this policy and the implementation on the masses,” Onlede
said. "So many banks are under lock and key, they're afraid of being
attacked."
For weeks, millions of
Nigerian citizens have been lining up at banks to get the new notes. In some
instances, tempers run high leading to protests and attacks on banks.
Abuja resident Nelly
Nwora wants authorities to obey the Supreme Court’s ruling and extend the
deadline.
"It is difficult
accessing cash, you have needs and you can't meet your needs, not because you
do not have money but because you really can't access cash,” Nwora said. "You
go to the ATM machines and you see long queues, your mind will skip. It has not
really been easy and we're hoping that this is resolved as soon as
possible."
Authorities say the new
currency is paying off in fighting crime and counterfeiting, and reducing
excess cash in circulation.
This week, the
International Monetary Fund urged Nigerian authorities to extend the currency
swap deadline.
VOA
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