Nigerians are yet to access the new and old Naira notes days after the Supreme Court order reverting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive to stop its use as legal tender from February 10.
Reports indicate that Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Abuja have yet to show compliance as residents still lack access in spite queuing for hours at Automate Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sales (POS).
Supreme Court on Friday legalised the use of certain denominations of old Naira notes as legal tender until December 31.
A visit to some DMB branches in Abuja revealed that neither the old notes nor the new ones were available; not even the N20, N50 and N100 notes that were not redesigned.
A bank official, who pleaded anonymity, said that the bank had not started paying out the old notes because there is no directive from CBN.
“We do not even have the old notes to pay out to customers and the CBN has not commenced disbursement of the notes,” said an official.
Findings by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that the seeming non-compliance by the Federal Government was due to inability to obtain the Certified True Copy (CTC) of the apex court’s judgment.
According to a staff of the Federal Ministry of Justice, who craved anonymity, the government must obtain the CTC before it can direct the CBN to comply with the judgment.
He said that efforts were on to obtain the judgment from the Supreme Court.
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Recall that the Supreme Court had invalidated the Naira redesign policy on the grounds that it was not done with due consultation and in line with constitutional provisions.
The apex court thus ordered that the old Naira notes should continue to be used side by side with the new notes until December 31.
The court held that the three months’ timeline given by the Federal Government was also not in tune with the CBN Act.
A financial expert, Okechukwu Unegbu, commended the Supreme Court for legalising the usage of the old Naira notes along with the new ones.
Unegbu, a past president of the Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), said that the Naira redesign policy had inflicted avoidable pains on Nigerians.
According to Unegbu, the apex court’s judgment has nullified the actions of the CBN as regards the Naira redesign project.
He urged the CBN to immediately take steps to release the over two trillion Naira of the old currency it had mopped up through the DMBs.
“In other words, the currency should revert to what it was before, and every other person, including the President and members of the National Assembly should comply.
“For me, it is a good decision because people have suffered. Many people could not buy food and medicines due to scarcity of money locked in banks.
“The apex bank said it had mopped up over two trillion Naira of the old currency, they should bring out that money through the banking system so that people can get money to move ahead and do their businesses,” he said.
