No fewer than four states are joining the suit instituted at the Supreme Court to halt the implementation of Nigeria’s currency redesign policy.
Ekiti State announced on Sunday that it was joining as a co-plaintiff in the legal action and The Punch is reporting that the Attorneys-General of Bayelsa, Sokoto, and Rivers States say they would also join.
The N200, N500, and N1,000 notes were redesigned and unveiled in November 2022 and a 31 January date was set for the phasing out of the old notes but was moved to 10 February.
Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara States went to the Supreme Court to stop the implementation of the currency change deadline, citing a scarcity of the new notes and the pain Nigerians have suffered in getting them.
The Supreme Court ordered a suspension of the policy pending the hearing of the suit on 15 January.
But the Attorney-General of the Federation instituted a case at the same court, seeking a dismissal of the three state’s suit.
In what seems like a war between the states and the federal government, the Kano State government went to the Supreme Court last Thursday, seeking a reversal of the naira redesign policy.
It is praying the court to declare that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot unilaterally order a withdrawal of the old notes without consulting with the Federal Executive Council and the National Economic Council.
The recent actions by the governments of Ekiti, Bayelsa, Sokoto, and Rivers States bring to eight the number of states challenging the naira redesign policy.
