Kunle Adelabu
The Supreme Court has ordered that the old N1000, N500 andN200 notes rem legal tenders till December 31, 2023, contrary to the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The apex court which gave the ruling today, also nullified the new naira notes redesigned as illegal.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a seven-member panel of Justices, held that the old Naira notes be used alongside the redesigned currencies.
In his lead judgment, Hon. Justice Emmanuel Agim, condemned disregard of the President for the earlier order given by the court that the old naira notes should continue to serve as legal tenders alongside the new notes.
“Disobedience of the order of court shows the country’s democracy a mere pretension and now replaced by autocracy. This suit is meritorious”,he said.
With today’s ruling, Nigerians will continue to spend the old notes alongside the new ones until December 31, 2023, when the old notes are expected to be out of circulation.
