BY: News Peddlers
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| President Muhammadu Buhari and CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele |
According to the Presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria will decide today whether to obey the Supreme Court.
"We wish to state that it is not true that the federal government or the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, have taken a preemptive action on the legality of currency as legal tender in light of the case before the Supreme Court," Mr Buhari's media aide Garba Shehu said late Tuesday night in a statement.
"The position of the government and the CBN will be made known upon the determination of the suit coming up tomorrow (today)," Mr Shehu added.
The Presidency claimed it, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had not refused to recognise the old N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes as legal tender despite a Supreme Court ruling, a claim contradicted by an official of the apex bank in Bauchi.
Despite the Supreme Court's decision, financial institutions, gas stations, supermarkets, and other businesses have continued to refuse the old naira notes. Several banks were said to have rejected the old banknotes after receiving a circular from the CBN.
During a meeting with diplomats in Abuja on Tuesday, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele, was reported to have stated that the old notes would no longer be legal tender as of February 10.
The governments of Zamfara, Kaduna, and Kogi had approached the Supreme Court to challenge the CBN's February 10 deadline for old naira notes to cease being legal tender.
In its February 8 ruling, the Supreme Court directed all parties to maintain the status quo and postponed the February 10 deadline until the case was resolved on February 15.
(NAN)