The attorney general of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abuakar Malami, has maintained that the federal government did not violate the supreme court ruling that prevented it from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes.
According to The Nation, Malami revealed the federal government’s position at the presidential villa in Abuja during a ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential communication team.
In a national broadcast on Thursday, February 16, the president directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to recirculate the N200 notes while maintaining that the old N500 and N100 notes are no longer legal tender.
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The directive of the president was against the order of the supreme court that said that the old naira notes remain legal tender until it deliver its judgment on the case instituted by some states against the federal government on the naira redesign policy.
The President’s broadcast has generated criticism from many Nigerians who accused Muhammadu Buhari’s administration of breaching the order of the court.
But Malami’s comment partly read:
“The fact, clearly, that we are not a breach of any order made by the court, inclusive of any order associated with the naira redesign. We are not in breach. I believe I’m not a banker but you have not gone to establish which bank is it that you have gone to present N1000 or N500 notes that have been rejected. So we are not in breach.”