‘Myopic policy’ — Kaduna hails s’court ruling on deadline for old naira notes

The Kaduna government has expressed satisfaction over a supreme court ruling which temporarily restrained the federal government from banning the use of the old naira notes from February 10.

TheCable had reported how a seven-member panel of the apex court led by John Okoro gave the ruling on Wednesday in an ex parte application brought by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states.

The three states prayed the court to grant an interim injunction stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from ending the timeframe within which the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes will cease to be legal tender.

In a statement on Wednesday by Muyiwa Adekeye, the special adviser to the Kaduna governor on media and publicity, the state said the suit was instituted to address the hardship experienced by Nigerians over the  naira redesign policy.

“The Kaduna State Government and the millions of residents of our state welcome the ruling on the Supreme Court extending the use of the old naira notes beyond the ill-considered CBN deadline of 10 February 2023. KDSG thanks the justices for their decision and appeals to the federal authorities to treat the ruling as an opportunity to relieve human suffering,” the statement reads.

“The governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states were compelled to approach the Supreme Court to mitigate the needless stress imposed on ordinary people and their livelihoods by the ill-timed, incompetent planning and execution of an overnight cashless policy.

“It is noteworthy that no emergency justification has been advanced for this callous decision to deny people access to their deposited cash.

“We have engaged extensively with the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria. This has included furnishing evidence-based demonstration of the threat to public welfare and economic activities by this myopic policy that would have been condemned as draconian and insensitive were it being pursued by an occupying power.

“It is not to the credit of a sovereign, democratic government that this level of suffering is being callously imposed when there is neither a compelling emergency situation nor clear benefits for citizens and the economy.

“The Kaduna State Government hopes that a review of the cash swap policy would now be undertaken to fashion out a better implementation programme and timeline that provides enough currency notes (both old and new) for our citizens, prioritises public welfare and restores economic activity.

“Like other elected APC state governments, we have advised that this should be based on a whole of government approach that pulls together all the necessary institutions of the federal and state governments, and recognizes global best practices and reasonable timeline for implementation.”