Governors Nasir El-Rufai and Badaru Abubakar of Kaduna and Jigawa states respectively have faulted President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive limiting the legal tender status of old notes to only N200, describing it as a total disregard of the Supreme Court’s stance on the matter.
In a nationwide broadcast on Thursday, President Buhari said the old N500 and N1,000 banknotes ceased to be legal tender on February 10.
He, however, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release the old N200 notes back into circulation and that they should be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes till April 10, 2023.
The CBN had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500, and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 but the Supreme Court held that the federal government must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a suit in respect of the matter on February 22.
In a public notice made available to the press by the Jigawa State Commissioner for Special Duties, Auwal Sankara, the Jigawa state government insisted that the old naira notes remain legal tender in the state and vowed to enforce the Supreme Court’s order.
The notice read partly, “Jigawa State Government respects the rights of its people and those rejecting the now-old currencies are enjoined to desist from disobeying the law and causing hardship to the people of Jigawa State.
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