The country’s deposit money banks have begun partially complying with the Supreme Court’s order to use the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes as legal tender for a period of ten months.
Last week, the Supreme Court decided that both the old and new naira notes should be allowed to be used until December 31, 2023.
The Federal Government’s naira redesign policy, according to the court, was in violation of the 1999 Constitution.
Despite the secrecy of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation, The PUNCH’s findings on Monday revealed that commercial banks had begun partial compliance with the order.
Our correspondents went to a number of bank branches in Lagos, Abuja, and other major cities to find that some banks had started following the Supreme Court’s order.
In regards to the contentious naira redesign policy, the CBN and the AGF office had refused to comply with previous orders issued by the Supreme Court.
On February 8, 2023, the Supreme Court, among other things, overturned the CBN’s February 10 deadline for phasing out the old naira notes.
However, the directive was not followed by the CBN or the AGF office.
Some commercial banks began paying their customers for the old notes on Monday, despite the fact that the CBN and AGF offices failed to make a decision regarding the most recent Supreme Court order.
The PUNCH found that on Monday, several Gtbank locations in Lagos and Abuja paid customers in the old N1000 and N500 notes. Additionally, customers were paid in the previous N1000 and N500 notes at a number of United Bank for Africa branches.
Nonetheless, other business banks declined to paid their clients, saying they were anticipating CBN mandate with regards to this issue.
According to The PUNCH’s findings, the CBN had not yet issued a directive to banks regarding the issue, but some banks continued to pay their customers based on the Supreme Court’s decision.
“We must proceed because customers are suffering, despite the absence of a clear official directive from CBN at this time. Also, the Supreme Court has ruled on it, according to an anonymous top bank official who spoke with The PUNCH.
However, FCMB, Polaris Bank, Access Bank, and others’ representatives stated that they were still awaiting the CBN’s directive on the subject.
In the meantime, Dr. Isa Abdulmumin, the acting Director of the CBN’s Corporate Communications Department, declined to comment on the Supreme Court ruling, so all attempts to get the CBN to comment were unsuccessful.