The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will announce the position on the old naira notes after the hearing of the suit filed by three state governments at the Supreme Court which comes up for hearing and possible ruling today.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria Godwin Emefiele on Tuesday confirmed that the old N200, N200 and N1000 notes have ceased to be legal tender in the country, a pronouncement that was at variance with the order of the Supreme Court asking the Federal Government to stay action on implementation of the February 10 deadline.
However, the Presidency distanced itself from Emefiele’s Tuesday pronouncement on the matter, saying the original position of government would be announced after today’s hearing at the Supreme Court.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said “Following series of enquiries, we wish to state it is not true that the Federal Government or the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, have taken a preemptive action on the legality of currency as a legal tender in view of the pendency of the case before the Supreme Court.
“The position of the government and the CBN will be made known upon the determination of the suit coming up today.”
Nigerians have been struggling with cash crisis since the CBN commenced the implementation of its cash swap policy with acute shortage of naira making life unbearable for the citizens.
