The Supreme Court has postponed to Wednesday, February 22, hearing in the suit filed against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the naira redesign policy.
The new notes have remained scarce, and citizens have continued to express worry over their inability to obtain cash from banks, ATMs or POS.
Banks, on Monday, stopped accepting the old naira notes, despite the court ruling.
CBN’s policy challenged
The CBN’s policy regarding the naira swap is being challenged by ten state governments.
Attorneys-General from Katsina, Lagos, Cross Rivers, Ogun, Ondo, Ekiti, and Sokoto States joined the lawsuit against the Naira Redesign policy as co-plaintiffs.
The apex court joined Bayelsa and Edo states as co-respondents in the matter.
On February 3, the court ruled on a request from three states – Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara – to stop the CBN from enforcing the deadline on the use of old notes.
The states contend that the implementation of the policy has made life difficult for the people in their respective states.
The Court on February 6, issued an interim injunction that stopped the CBN and commercial banks from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to cease being legal tender.
Justice Inyang Okoro, leading a 7-man panel of Supreme Court Justices, ordered the plaintiff to amend the originating process to reflect the co-plaintiffs joined in the suit.
The federal government has filed a preliminary objection to the said suit, arguing that the supreme court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.
Reporting by Ifeoma Nwovu; Editing by Abdullahi Lamino, Saadatu Albashir and Tony Okerafor