The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, may face contempt proceedings for not complying with the Supreme Court’s decision on the validity of old naira notes.
According to reports, the enrolled order and Certified True Copy of last week’s Supreme Court decision were served on the federal government on Friday.
It was learnt that Emefiele has not been directed by the federal government to distribute the old notes that are already out of circulation due to non-service of the aforementioned.
The silence of President Muhammdu Buhari on the Supreme Court’s decision has fueled the rejection of the old N1,000 and N500 notes as legal money.
It was observed on Wednesday that some banks that had been paying customers with the old notes in partial compliance with the Supreme Court order stopped disbursing them after CBN stated that it had not issued any directive for them to do so.
Speaking with newsmen, the Counsel for Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, which took the federal government to the Supreme Court over the issue, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), stated that immediate compliance is expected now that Emefiele and the Buhari-led administration had been served.
“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.
“When the Supreme Court talks, the constitution makes it compulsory for all government representatives and everybody to comply with its order.
“It’s not discretional, you have to obey, it is the last and the final and that is why we have separation of power.
“The presence of separation of power is for checks and balances; when the Supreme Court talks, it must be complied with by all persons.”