Debates on redesigned Naira notes reach crescendo, as cash crunch, hardship persists
As Nigeria, one of Africa's biggest economies continues to battle with the scarcity of its legal tender, the Naira notes, there are fears that the 2023 elections may be affected by the development, even as the nation’s apex court, the Supreme Court has waded into the matter.
While a section of Nigerians believe that the redesigning of the Nigerian Naira was a laudable project by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, others believe that the development was capable of frustrating the 2023 election. Opinions are believed to have been sharply divided along interests lines.
Source: Twitter
Background
The redesigning of the nation's currency, after its initial launch, had raised serious agitations even among political elites.
Governors and heavyweight politicians had raised the alarm, stressing that the redesigning of the notes would affect the nation's economy and also likely to affect the general election owing to the growing agitations among Nigerians who battle every day to survive the harsh conditions created by the scarcity of the Naira notes.
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But the CBN had earlier given notice of 3 months and also extended the deadline for 10 days, a deadline that expires on Friday, February 10, 2023. Despite putting Nigerians and other financial institutions on notice, the CBN has been under pressure to give Nigerians more time to return their old cash to the banks.
Customers go unclad, fight in banking halls
As the financial crunch continues nationwide, videos and reports emerged late last week of Nigerians removing their clothes in banking halls and fighting their way in to ensure they are paid.
A woman suspected to be a customer of one of the banks was seen in a video removing her clothes and protesting in demand for the withdrawal of her deposited cash. Workers and other customers in the banking hall were stunned. The video trended on social media for days.
Similarly, apparently in an effort to fight their way to the counter, two men engaged each other in a fight, throwing irons at each other to the consternation of bankers and other customers.
The height of the protest came when a man went completely unclad in a banking hall in demand of the money he had earlier deposited with the bank. The man was seen complaining of his inability to withdraw his deposited cash, explaining and wailing over the hardship he was facing. The man who claimed to have saved about N500,000 in the unidentified bank said his wife was ill and would need urgent medical attention.
Other protests had occurred in cities and towns across the country, forcing some banks to shut down operations. Protests in Ogun and Oyo states turned violent and a few persons were injured. A death was, however, recorded in Ogun state when a protest started from the Guaranteed Trust Bank in Abeokuta, the state capital.
State governors protest
Worried about the development, the Progressives Governors embarked on a trip to the presidential villa to meet President Muhammadu Buhari to lobby the president in order to stop the CBN from going ahead with the policy. Though other details were not made public, the president told the governors to give him 7 days to look into the matter and revert to them.
But while the wait was on, three state governments proceeded to the Supreme Court, asking the court to stop the CBN from phasing out the old Naira notes on the 10th of February. The governors argued that the policy was putting the nation’s election under threat and that Nigerians were going through hardship. The states in the supreme court are Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara. They had in a motion ex-parte filed on February 3rd, by their lawyer, Abdul Hakeem Mustapha (SAN), prayed the apex court to halt the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has been very vocal on the issues relating to the redesigning of the new Naiara notes. The Kaduna State Governor had severally accused a fifth columnist in the Villa. He said they were working to discredit the APC-led government and to scuttle the coming February election as well as the nation’s democracy.
Supreme court stops CBN temporarily
A Wednesday ruling of the Supreme Court has asked the CBN to suspend its deadline on the use of the old Naira notes as legal tenders. A unanimous judgment by the apex court restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 Deadline for the old 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes to stop being legal tenders.
A seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro, unanimously granted an interim injunction restraining the FG, CBN, commercial banks, etc from implementing the February 10, deadline for the old 200, 500, and 1000 Naira notes to stop being a legal tender.
The court further held that the FG, CBN, and commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 15.
But it’s yet to be seen if the ruling will stop the CBN from going ahead.
President Muhammadu Buhari had immediately after the judgement summoned the CBN Governor, Emefiele, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami immediately after the court judgment. Some experts have suggested that the president should use an executive order to knock off the apex court’s decision while others have advised the government and the CBN to comply with the judgment.
Rights activist, Onwubiko takes a position on the supreme court ruling
Speaking exclusively with Legit.ng on the matter, a renowned rights activist and coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko said though it was a terrible order by the Supreme Court, being the apex court of the land, the order has to be obeyed.
Onwubiko said:
“The supreme court order is the final arbiter. No matter how bad the order is, it must be complied with. The order is a regular one and quite suspicious. It was an order that was obtained without hearing from the other party. It is an ex-parte motion. It’s an interim order that can be vacated even as we speak. But there are questions that are being asked. Is CBN a party in that suit? People need to know. And CBN is a party in the suit, why did the supreme court not hear from the CBN before reaching a determination? It is a one-sided ex-parte order. It’s a ‘jankare’ market order. That’s the way it should be described. And order that is purchased.”
Speaking on why the CBN must comply with the order, the right advocate said:
"No matter how satanic the order is, that is the verdict of the Supreme and the Supreme Court is the highest in the land. It will amount to instituting anarchy if it’s not complied with. It’s good to respect the order while you go back and tell them that you guys didn’t hear from us. You have to discharge this order as quickly as possible. This is because the CBN has the right to introduce new Naira notes. It is for them to rush to court and get the order discharged, but they must comply with the order first. The order has messed up the supreme court's image because it’s a terrible one, but there is nothing anybody can do. Because it’s the supreme court, they have to respect the order. "
Legit.ng reports that most banks have shut down operations over fear that they may be attacked by angry customers who are not able to access their cash. But some financial experts believe that the situation will ease is a short while. They have also accused some state governors of fueling the ‘crisis’ over the CBN cashless policy by linking it to politics.
Source: Legit.ng
