Supreme Court Okays Old Naira As Legal Tender Beyond Deadline

The Supreme Court of Nigeria has restrained the Federal Government from implementing the February 10 Deadline for the old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes to stop being legal tenders.

Three northern states — Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara — had in a motion ex-parte filed on February 3rd, by their lawyer, AbdulHakeem Mustapha (SAN), prayed the apex court to halt the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign policy.

A seven-man panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro, in a unanimous ruling, granted an interim injunction restraining the FG, CBN, commercial banks etc from implementing the February 10, deadline for the old 200, 500 and 1000 Naira notes to stop being a legal tender.

The court further held that the FG, CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 15.

By this ruling, the old Naira notes continue to be legal tenders in Nigeria.