Why You Should Not Reject The Old N200, N500, N1,000 Notes

By Odili Ogochukwu –

Nigeria is a sovereign and democratic state bounded by rule of law. The citizenry should be tempted to follow the same trend of absurdity making most of our principal officers not to comply to the injunction of a competent court.

Yes,  it is true, they say, ‘when the root is decayed, it spreads death to other parts of the tree.’ Suffix to say; one must not breach the law because the next person did so. Recall that it is the same God who created the hen and the fowl but their destinies differ.

Several occasions have President Muhammed Buhari come under fire for violating court verdicts in Nigeria, especially, when the judgment of the court contradicted his policy, program or plan of action. His disobedience to court ruling clearly defines his indigent personality irrespective of his position.

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Good leaders do not flout laws. Of course, you are acquainted with the qualities of a good leader.

Nevertheless, the Supreme court has ruled that the old and the new naira notes of N200, N500 and N1,000 should remain in circulation as a legal tender until the December 31, 2023.

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The Apex court has on March 03, 2023, maintained that the demonetisation policy of CBN contradicted Nigerian constitution, and that, the effort made to circulate the new naira notes was not enough.

The verdict was given by a seven-man panel of Justices under the leadership of Emmanuel Agim. They held that the decision of the president on the new monetary policy should have been made after consultation with all the stakeholders and not the decision engineered after a personal engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

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On the statement that the CBN is not a party to the case, the court maintained that the assertion is baseless on the ground that the introduction of the new naira policy is the action of the federal government who is a defendant in the suit.

In a democratic society, court injunction has a legal binding on the people in that society. This is the justification to accept the old naira notes. Personal interest or position cannot override court’s declaration. Comfortably accept the old naira notes when given or have access to it.

Remember that the Supreme Court in her judgment also said CBN is an agency of the government which can only act on the thoughts of the Presidency, and that the court had the jurisdiction to hear and determine the circumstances affecting the people legally.

Nigeria has 35 states over which 16 states led by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara challenged the policy at the apex court, seeking that the policy be set aside on the grounds that it was inflicting hardship on the people.