Old Naira Notes: SERAP Drags Buhari, Malami, CBN To Court

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) announced over the weekend that it had sued President Muhammadu Buhari for “the unlawful directive banning the use of old N500 and N1,000 banknotes, contrary to the interim injunction granted by the Supreme Court that the old N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes remain legal tender.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

In a lawsuit that was first brought by ten states, the Supreme Court had ruled that the old N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes would continue to be valid until the outcome of a move on notice that was scheduled for February 22.

Keep in mind that the deadline for exchanging the previous notes passed on February 10.

Buhari, however, overruled the supreme court and prohibited the usage of old N500 and N1,000 banknotes in Nigeria last Thursday by ordering the CBN to only recycle the N200 notes.

However, SERAP asks the court to rule on “whether President Buhari’s directive banning the N500 and N1,000 notes is not inconsistent and incompatible with the constitutional duties to obey decisions of the Supreme Court and oath of office” in the lawsuit (No. FHC/ABJ/CS/233/2023) that was filed on Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa and Kolawole Oluwadare, attorneys for SERAP, sued on its behalf.

The court should “declare that President Buhari’s directive banning the use of old N500 and N1,000 banknotes is a fundamental breach of Section 287 (1) of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] and his constitutional oath of office and unconstitutional, unlawful, void,” according to SERAP’s other request.

An “order of interim injunction restraining Buhari, CBN, and Malami, their agents or privies from further enforcing the presidential directive banning the old N500 and N1,000 notes, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, filed contemporaneously in this suit,” is what the group is also requesting.

This is occurring as the shortage of new naira notes in Nigeria continues to worsen.

Angering residents increased the pressure earlier this week by staging protests simultaneously across the country.