State organize contempt proceedings against Malami and Emefiele over the Naira crisis

In response to their refusal to carry out the Supreme Court ruling on the Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, some state governments intend to file contempt charges against the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele.

 

The enrolled order and certified true copy of the Supreme Court decision that was issued last week, which also authorized that the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes remain in circulation alongside the new notes until December 31, 2023, were reportedly served to the Federal Government on Friday.

 

According to Saturday PUNCH, the Federal Government failed to order Emefiele to disburse the old notes that had already been withdrawn from circulation because of the inactivity of the enrolled order and the CTC of the judgment.

 

The Supreme Court’s decision to reject the remaining old N1,000 and N500 as legal tender had been fueled by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), who had stayed silent. Some banks managed to pay customers with the old notes on Monday, partially complying with the Supreme Court’s ruling. However, by Wednesday, the banks had stopped doing so because the CBN insisted that no such directive had been granted.

 

The enrolled order and the CTC of the judgment were served on the AGF on Friday afternoon, according to information gained by Saturday PUNCH.

 

Malami was served with the enrolled order and the CTC of the judgment on Friday afternoon, according to counsel for Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, which brought the Federal Government before the Supreme Court on the matter. Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), said in a telephone interview that he expected immediate compliance with the judgment as the non-service of the documents had given the government and the CBN an escape route.

 

The Attorney-General of the Federation has been served, and we’ll proceed from there; if there isn’t compliance right away, we’ll start committal proceedings against the AG and the CBN governor. Mustapha said. According to the constitution, everyone and every government representative must abide by the Supreme Court’s rulings. We have separation of powers because it is not debatable, you must obey it, and it is the ultimate authority.

 

The presence of a separation of powers is necessary for balance of power; everyone must abide by the decisions made by the Supreme Court.

 

We are waiting for the court’s enrolled order, the attorney had previously told one of our correspondents. We have not yet procured it. We will move forward as soon as we have it. All governmental entities abide by Supreme Court orders, and if they don’t, the rules are clear. We will initiate the required legal procedures within the bounds of the law. But first, we must serve the defendants and obtain the enrolled order. We are situated there.

 

“We will be able to obtain the enrolled order and the Certified True Copy of the judgment at any time from this point, after which we will proceed. However, I can assure you that our clients are keeping an eye on the situation and that we will act appropriately when the time is right.

 

When asked what would happen if there was still no compliance after the enrolled order and the CTC were served to the AGF, Mustapha responded, “Courts deal with live issues and not speculations. We will cross the bridge once we arrive at it.

 

Dr. Umar Gwandu, the AGF’s media assistant, could not be reached when contacted because his phone displayed as being off.

 

Since the judgment was handed down, state governors, senior attorneys, and other interested parties have urged Buhari to instruct the CBN governor to instruct commercial banks to begin disbursing the old notes alongside the new ones in order to alleviate the naira shortage that has hampered the economy.

 

Several governors, including Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, criticized the President and Emefiele’s silence regarding the ruling.

 

The seven-member panel of the supreme court found that Buhari violated the constitution when he issued orders for the redesign of the naira in its judgment, which was delivered by Justice Agim.

 

Justice Agim stated that Buhari’s broadcast on February 16, 2023, stating that only the N200 note should remain legal tender, made the nation’s democracy appear to be little more than a pretense. This was in reference to the Supreme Court’s earlier order regarding the new notes.

 

“Let me consider the President’s disobedience of the 8-2-2023 interim order that the new and old versions of naira notes continue to circulate as legal tender until the determination of the pending application for interlocutory injunction,” Justice Agim said in his ruling. It is undeniable that the first defendant disobeyed the specified order.

 

“This disobedience is demonstrated by the President’s 16-2-2023 national broadcast, which is reproduced here on pages 27 through 31. He gave the order to circulate only the old N200 naira notes in defiance of it. Interestingly, there is nothing to indicate that even that directive has been implemented. I concur with the ninth plaintiff that the first defendant does not have a right to a hearing before this court given that it has professed to respect the court’s authority and the law, which is the source of the authority of the President and the government of Nigeria.

 

“If the President of the nation or any authority or person refuses to comply with court orders, the rule of law that underpins our democratic governance is rendered illusory. In a constitutional democracy like ours, the President’s disobedience to court orders is a sign that the constitution has failed and that democratic governance has been replaced by autocracy or dictatorship.

 

The court ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear the case and dismissed the preliminary objections made by the AGF, Bayelsa, and Edo states.

Naira shortages get worse.

 

On Friday, it was learned that most banks in Lagos and Ogun states had run out of cash because the CBN was unable to provide them with fresh naira bills, according to senior bankers.

 

The last time a branch of a Tier-1 bank received cash was on Tuesday of last week, the branch manager of that bank told Saturday PUNCH, adding that the nation’s banking industry was also frustrated by the currency crisis.

 

The branch manager in Lagos reported that his branch and other nearby branches had not received any new naira notes this week. The most recent supply we received was N5m on Monday of last week and another N5m the following day. This week, members of our bullion van team have been waiting for signals to arrive at the CBN to pick up cash, but none have materialized. The N10m we received the previous week did not last past Wednesday.

 

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, “we were at first giving old N1,000 and N500 notes that were deposited with us but had not been deposited with the CBN to desperate customers, but we had to stop when the customers complained that no one was taking the old notes from them.”

 

This was confirmed by another senior banker, who also said that his first generation bank had not received new naira notes to give to customers.

 

Even as a banker, I can only brag of N100 as I speak to you, he said. Cash has not been given to us this week. The digital payment systems are overloaded, and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Instant Payment platform is not functioning. If you notice crowds at our branches right now, know that we are not dispensing cash; rather, we are handling complaints related to digital payments.

 

“I believe that the government and CBN are purposefully withholding naira notes from the banks because they do not want politicians to scoop them up. Politicians are currently in desperate need of money to pay their agents. I am aware of a candidate for the Lagos State House of Assembly who has made a heartfelt plea to his friends to donate money so that he can pay his party agents, who were not paid after the elections for the president and the National Assembly and threatened not to run for governor or the state House of Assemblies,

One of the commercial banks’ operations managers claimed that his branch was unable to give customers cash because it was out of it. The most recent cash transfer to any of the nearby branches was two weeks ago, she said, adding that her branch had not received any funds from the main office in the previous month.

 

“Cash is increasingly scarce. I don’t have any money to spend, not even as a bank employee. Since the headquarters have not been sending us money, we have nothing to offer customers, she continued.

 

When asked if they had received a directive from headquarters to stop using the outdated notes in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision, she responded, “No, there has been no communication in that regard. We can currently pay for some old notes that customers deposited with us, but we don’t have a directive to distribute them.

“Normally, after the Supreme Court made its decision on the issue on March 3, people would have expected the banks to begin paying the old notes right away, but we required a directive from the CBN through our headquarters to do that. The challenge is therefore tri-fold: the CBN has refused to give us new notes, it hasn’t given us permission to distribute the old notes we have in our vault, and it hasn’t released the old notes for us to circulate. The lack of resources everywhere is caused by this.

 

“In the beginning of February, or roughly one month ago, my branch last received outdated notes. Our zonal branch, which has eight branches within it, received N3m from the headquarters. What reached the eight branches by the time it was distributed among them was insignificant and didn’t even last a day. Remember that bankers are also struggling with a lack of money.

protests in Anambra and Bayelsa

 

Meanwhile, some Yenagoa residents protested peacefully against the rejection of the old N1,000 and N500 notes by transporters, traders, banks, and gas stations on Friday. Yenagoa is the capital of Bayelsa State.

They complained that the Supreme Court judgment, which mandated that the old and new naira notes circulate side by side until December 31, 2023, was being disobeyed by the bank’s refusal to accept the old notes.

 

The state capital’s Akenfa suburb was the scene of the demonstration.

 

The Mbiama-Yenagoa Road was blocked by the protesters carrying placards in Akenfa.

 

Due to the residents’ actions, traffic was backed up and long commutes were required, while other routes were used by drivers.

 

In order to prevent residents from suffering, they urged the Federal Government and Governor Douye Diri to take action.

 

Mrs. Rebecca Izibeya, a protester, stated: “Tradesmen and transporters are frustrating people in this town by failing to collect the old N500 and N1,000. The Supreme Court ruled that the old naira notes are still legal tender, so they have no reason to reject them.

 

Oyintari Cosmos, another protester, expressed his frustration with the rejection of the old naira notes ever since the supreme court issued its ruling.

 

According to what I understand, no one is supposed to disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling. Everyone must accept the outdated N1,000 and N500 notes and follow the Supreme Court’s orders.

 

But surprisingly, some merchants and Keke drivers in Yenagoa, as well as some banks, gas stations, restaurants, and supermarkets, are refusing to accept the old naira notes. It is unacceptable and wrong. I’m not sure what’s wrong with Nigerians in general.

 

On Thursday night, security personnel at the Enamel bus stop at Onitsha, Owerri, rejected old naira notes from tricycle drivers, leaving drivers and other road users stranded for several hours. The security personnel are thought to be naval ratings.

Tricycle and shuttle bus drivers, customers, and other drivers have been complaining about hardships brought on by the gridlock caused by the naval ratings, who routinely erect roadblocks on both ends of the expressway.

 

They complained that these security personnel would always block off more than half of the road with sacks of sand to create a checkpoint where they would extort commercial motorists every night while pretending to enforce the Anambra State Government’s 6am to 6pm curfew.

 

Due to security concerns, the state’s governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, imposed a curfew in July 2022 on about eight local government areas, including the Ogbaru.

 

The Ogbaru LGA is responsible for the section of the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway where security personnel set up a roadblock.

 

Following this development, it was learned that naval ratings always demand N200 from each tricycle driver, N500 from shuttle bus drivers, and N1,000 from truck drivers at the checkpoint.

 

When reached, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, the state police’s spokesman, denied being aware of the military men’s activities.

 

“You’ve just brought this to my attention, and I’ll make sure that something is done to stop it. We encourage those who have suffered to use our complaint lines, Ikenga continued.

 

Christian Aburime, the governor’s press secretary, directed Saturday PUNCH to AVM Ben Chiobi, the governor’s special adviser on security, who did not return calls or messages left on his mobile phone.

Kogi issues a caution

 

Residents and business organizations in Kogi State have been cautioned against discarding the old naira notes.

 

In a statement released on Friday, the state’s commissioner for information, Kingsley Fanwo, explained that the Supreme Court’s decision meant that both the old and new naira notes should be accepted for use in conducting business through the end of the year.

 

The commissioner said, “We congratulate Nigerians on the historic decision of the Supreme Court, the apex court in Nigeria, to the effect that both the old and new naira notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023, when the old notes will no longer be legal tender.

 

He added that rejecting the use of the old naira notes was obviously disobeying the Supreme Court ruling and that it was unacceptable that some people and businesses would continue to oppose their use even after the court judgment validating it.

 

He stated that the state government joined other states in the lawsuit in order to lessen the hardship brought on by the lack of new naira notes, which the court fully recognized.

 

Fanwo continued, “Anyone who rejects the old naira notes should be reported to security and government authorities for prompt action.

Additionally, he issued a warning that the state government would not tolerate financial institutions that willfully disobey court orders, especially those from the highest court in the land. He said that banks that refuse to accept the old naira deposits would have their accounts sealed.

 

Kogites should be aware that they must get the old naira notes since the banks are issuing them. After receiving freedom from the Supreme Court, we cannot keep killing our economy, the commissioner said.

 

He claimed that in order to ensure complete adherence and compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling, the state government had established a powerful committee led by the commissioner for finance, budget, and economic planning.

Impeach Buhari right away.

 

The National Assembly has been urged by the Southern Nigeria Peoples Mandate to start impeachment proceedings against the President for his refusal to follow the Supreme Court’s ruling on the redesign of the naira.

 

The group added that all bank management and directors should face legal action for conspiring to deliberately cause hardship for Nigerians.

 

The group noted that Buhari’s refusal to abide by the ruling of the supreme court was dictatorial and an impeachable offense in a statement released by its president, Augustine Chukwudum, on Friday.

 

“How can Buhari fold his hands and watch innocent Nigerians die of hunger by preventing them from accessing their money in the banks in the name of a cashless policy, naira swap, vote-buying, and all kinds of terminologies,” the group argued.

 

“The banks are also taking advantage of the circumstance to illegally enrich the PoS operators, who are also acting on their behalf, and this behavior must end right away.

 

These banks have been paying old notes of N500 and N1,000 to their customers since the apex court’s decision, but they also reject them when the customers bring them back. This is theft by an executive.

 

“We hereby call on Nigerians to urge their National Assembly representatives to sign an impeachment petition against Buhari as a result of this evil policy,” the petition reads.

(TNT)