New Naira: Falana criticizes CBN for disobeying a Supreme Court order

Femi Falana, a rights advocate and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has blasted the Central Bank of Nigeria for reportedly disobeying the Supreme Court’s interim injunction barring the use of the old banknotes’ deadline of February 10 until further notice.

Following a meeting between CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele and President Major General Muhammadu Buhari  (retd.), PULSENETS reported that the CBN has extended the deadline for the legal tender status of the old notes from January 31 to February 10.

Nigerians have been writhing in agony as a result of the deadline since they are unable to obtain the new notes while Point of Sales sellers continue to sell them the outdated notes.

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But on February 8, the Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction prohibiting the CBN and the Federal Government from carrying out the February 10 deadline.

Falana, however, claimed that the administration was not prepared to abide by the judgment during a live appearance on Tuesday’s episode of Channels TV’s The 2023 Verdict, according to a report by the network.

“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,” Falana said.

He continued by saying that a claim made by the CBN that it would not obey the ruling of the supreme court since it was not a party to the dispute could only hold water 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: ‘all actions are stale until the 15th of February’,” he said.

The SAN further stated that individuals disobeying court orders should be made an example of, emphasizing that no one should believe they are 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 added.

PULSENETS reported that the CBN has insisted on a deadline of February 10 for the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes’ legal tender status to expire.