He said the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction for such monetary policy cases.
Nigeria’s Minister for Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, asked the Nigerian Supreme Court to dismiss a suit by 3 states, Kaduna, Zamfara, and Kogi States over the scarcity of old and new Naira notes due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s naira redesign policy.
Malami argued that the plaintiffs have equally not shown the reasonable cause of action against the defendant, in court filings dated February 8, 2023, reported by Channels TV on Wednesday evening.
Nigeria’s Supreme Court temporarily halted any plans to ban the use of the old naira notes across the country, after the state governments said they sued for a restraining order by the Supreme Court to compel the government and CBN from implementing the policy as worries mount over the effects the CBN naira redesign policy is having on the residents of their states.
No reasonable cause: The report stated that the preliminary objection was filed by the AGF through his lawyers – Mahmud Magaji and Tijanni Gazali, adding that the Supreme Court lacks jurisdiction for such monetary matters, he said:
“The plaintiffs have equally not shown the reasonable cause of action against the defendant”
“The claims or reliefs are not against the federation, but the Federal Government and its Agency, the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is distinct from the Federation or the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Plaintiffs have no grievance whatsoever against the Federation of Nigeria.
“This suit has disclosed no dispute that invokes this (Supreme) Court’s original jurisdiction as constitutionally defined.”
What you should know
Nigeria’s Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily halted any plans to ban the use of the old naira notes across the country.
The ruling was issued on Wednesday morning by a seven-member panel led by Justice John Okoro, halting an exparte application brought by three northern states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara.
Justice Okoro also adjourned the matter until February 15 for a hearing of the main suit.
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