The Supreme Court will today put to rest, the controversy surrounding the naira swap policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The court had on February 22 fixed today for judgment in a suit by 17 states challenging the policy which has for months caused naira scarcity and untold hardship to Nigerians and their business.
This was after constituting a seven-member panel to entertain the suit and directing the plaintiffs (17 states) to consolidate their briefs.
The plaintiffs are Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Katsina, Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Sokoto, Rivers, Kano, Niger, Jigawa, Nasarawa, Plateau and Abia states.
READ ALSO: [SEE LIST]: World’s best 10 sandwiches, number 1 will shock you as UK misses out
The defendants are the Federal Government, Edo and Bayelsa states.
In their separate cases that were consolidated, the plaintiffs argued that the policy was unconstitutional and should be voided.
Lawyer to Zamfara State Government, Abiodun Owonikoko, had before then prayed to the apex court to set aside President Muhammadu Buhari’s February 16 directive that only N200 old note should be in use.
Owonikoko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), added that the naira redesign policy was at variance with the provision of Section 17(2)(c) of the Constitution, which says the governmental actions shall be humane.
But Kanu Agabi (SAN), Tijani Gazali (SAN), Kenneth Mozia (SAN) and Audu Anuga (SAN), who represented the plaintiffs, urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction and for being incompetent.
Agabi,, who argued that necessary parties were not before the court, faulted the exclusion of the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele as a party in the suit.
He noted that references were made to the CBN 32 times in the plaintiffs’ originating summons and supporting affidavit, while seven reliefs were sought against the apex bank, which was not made a party in the suit.
Agabi, who said his client filed a motion on notice seeking the dismissal of Form 48 issued on the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Emefiele, added that an affidavit to show cause why Form 48 should be set aside had also been filed.
He argued that Buhari did not flout the order of the court in his February 16 nationwide broadcast, insisting that it was a necessary intervention.
(NATION)
