State governments that sued the federal government over the naira redesign policy have given the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, until Tuesday to comply with the Supreme Court’s decision on the currency.
State governments threatened to file contempt proceedings against the two senior officials on Tuesday if they did not comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes be circulated alongside the new notes until December 31, 2023.
About a week after the court issued the order, the AGF and the CBN have remained silent, emboldening Nigerians and companies to reject the old notes as legal tender.
The counsel for Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, which dragged the Federal Government before the Supreme Court on the matter, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), disclosed that Malami was served with the enrolled order and the CTC of the judgement on Friday afternoon, adding that he expected immediate compliance with the judgment as the non-service of the documents had given the government and the CBN an escape route.
Mustapha said, “The Attorney-General of the Federation has been served now and we will take it up from there; if there is no compliance now, we will commence committal proceedings against the attorney-general and the CBN governor.”
But giving an update on the move to enforce compliance with the order of the apex court on Sunday, the Zamfara State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Junaidu Aminu, revealed that since the Federal Government had refused to implement the judgment, the plaintiffs in the suit would approach the court again to ensure compliance with the court’s order.