Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, has filed processes challenging the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Supreme Court to suspend the scheduled deadline of Naira swap and demonetization.
Malami, in a preliminary objection he filed on behalf of the Federal Government, applied for an order striking out the suit that three Northern States filed to halt the full implementation of the new monetary policy that was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
He is the sole defendant in the suit marked: SC/CV/162/2023, where he applied for its outright dismissal on the basis that the three States lacked the locus-standi.
Listing his grounds for challenging the power of the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter, Malami accused the three States of opposing FG’s power, through its agency, the CBN, to withdraw old banknotes and introduce new ones.
The Supreme Court had on Wednesday temporarily halted the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to ban the use of the old naira notes from February 10, 2023.
Few hours after the Supreme Court ruling, the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele met with President Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa.
Nigerians are anxiously awaiting the next step of the CBN, especially with the deadline ending on Friday, February 10, just as President Buhari had earlier asked for one week to take a major decision on the matter one way or the other.