Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer, has criticized the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for not complying with the interim injunction issued by the Supreme Court suspending the implementation of the February 10 deadline when the old Naira notes ceased to be legal tender in the nation.
Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara state governments brought the Nigerian government to the Supreme Court over the Naira redesign policy. The apex bank had set February 10 as the deadline for Nigerians to switch to the new N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
The three Northern States asked the Supreme Court to grant them an interim injunction to prevent the Federal Government, either directly or through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the commercial banks, or its agents, from carrying out its plan to end the naira swap’s timeframe in a motion ex parte filed on their behalf by their attorney, AbdulHakeem Uthman Mustapha (SAN).
The Supreme Court issued a decision on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, suspending the CBN’s February 10 deadline for converting old to new Naira notes and putting the case on hold until Wednesday, February 15 for a final decision.
However, Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, insisted that there would be no extension of the February 10 deadline.
During a live interview on Channels TV’s “The 2023 Verdict” on Tuesday, Falana stated that the Nigerian government was not prepared to comply with the Supreme Court’s order in response to the CBN’s decision to disobey the interim injunction.
The Senior Advocate stated that the CBN cannot boldly disobey a Supreme Court order in a country with rule of law, but only in a banana republic.
He said, “In a nation where law and order works, when the High Court has decided a matter or provided a request, it is normal that one and all – everyone – will conform to the request.
The Central Bank was informed in a statement that it would not comply with the order because it was not a party to the case. That was something I thought could only occur in a banana republic.
“I anticipated that the Central Bank would have issued the following statement in response to the Supreme Court’s order: Up until February 15, all actions expire.
According to Falana, “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,” the law will be used to deal with those who are purposefully flouting the orders of the court and sabotaging the rule of law in Nigeria.