Lagos, Feb. 14, 2023 – Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Tuesday condemned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for allegedly flouting the Supreme Court’s order suspending the February 10 deadline on circulation of old notes.
The Global Business News (GBN) reports that there have been conflicting reports on the current status of the old naira notes due to the stance of the CBN.
Some reports said that some banks had stopped collecting the old notes since Monday in compliance with the Feb. 10 deadline ordered by the CBN for circulation of the old notes.
The Supreme Court, had on February 8, granted an interim injunction restraining the CBN and the Federal Government from implementing the Feb. 10 deadline.
Although the CBN has not openly made it stance known on the Supreme Court’s interim injunction, but its “body language” portrays “non-committal”.
Emefiele, while speaking at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Tuesday, said: “there was no need shifting Feb. 10 deadline on old note”.
Falana, while speaking on Channels TV’s “The 2023 Verdict” on Tuesday, said the government was not ready to comply with the Supreme Court’s order.
“In a country where the rule of law operates, once the Supreme Court has determined a matter or given an order, it is expected that all and sundry, everybody, will comply with the order,” he said.
Falana said that a statement credited to the CBN that it would not comply with the order of the apex court because it was not a party to the case could only be tenable in a “banana republic”.
“A statement was credited to the central bank that since it was not a party to the case, it’s not going to comply with the order. I thought that could only happen in a banana republic.
“I expected the central bank to have issued a statement following the order of the Supreme Court that: ‘all actions are stale until the 15th of February’,” he said.
Falana said that examples should be made of those flouting court orders, stressing that nobody should feel that they were above the law.
“For me, an example has to be made this time around, so that nobody will feel that he’s above the law in our country,” he said. (GBN)
