The old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes must continue to be in use until December 31, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday.
The Federal Government’s policy to redesign the naira was also overturned by the Supreme Court, which ruled that it violated the Constitution of 1999.
The Attorney General of the Federation, the states of Bayelsa and Edo, and Justice Emmanuel Agim, who read the lead judgment, declared that the defendants’ preliminary objections are overruled because the court has the authority to hear the case.
The court held that the conflict between the federation and states must include either law or facts, citing Section 23(2) of the constitution.
The apex court further held that President Muhammadu Buhari in his broadcast, admitted that the policy is flawed with a lot of challenges.
The court said the policy has led to some people engaging in trade by barter in this modern age, in a bid to survive. The court added that the President’s disobedience of the February 8 order, is a sign of dictatorship.
Sixteen states of the Federation instituted the suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.
The suit initially instituted by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states has been slated as the first case on the cause list for final verdict.
Justice John Inyang Okoro who led a seven-man panel of Justices of the Court had on February 22 fixed today for the court to make its decision known on the suit.
The 16 states led by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara are praying the apex court to void and set aside the policy on the ground that it is inflicting hardships on innocent Nigerians.
They accused President Muhammadu Buhari of usurping the function of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the introduction and implementation of the policy and asked that the directive issued by Buhari be voided.
On its part, the Federal Government challenged the jurisdiction of the Apex Court on the grounds that the CBN was not joined as a party and that the dispute on the policy ought to be directed at the CBN so that the suit can be referred to the Federal High Court.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello were in court to witness the judgement on Friday. The two governors were also in court at the last hearing. Also, Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle was in court on Friday.