On Wednesday, the Supreme Court affirmed that the case regarding the new naira must be heard, no matter what happens. At the hearing, Moyosore Onigbanjo, the representative for Lagos State, requested that the court prevent Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation, from representing the defendants since he is defying previous court orders and making insincere requests for relief.
During a legal proceeding, one of the parties made a statement suggesting that the issue of contempt of court should take priority over the issue of jurisdiction. Justice John Okoro responded by cautioning the speaker that he was not a stranger to the country and emphasizing that the judiciary should not be used as a scapegoat in the matter at hand. He also stated that the court was committed to expeditiously concluding the case, regardless of whether the parties involved comply with its directives.
After some discussion about delayed court filings, the court took a short break. The legal proceedings were related to a case in which the governments of Zamfara, Kogi, and Kaduna filed a lawsuit against the Attorney-General of the Federation on February 3. The case involved a deadline of February 10 set by the Federal Government for swapping old naira notes with new ones, which the Supreme Court had previously restrained the government from enforcing. Despite the court’s injunction, the Central Bank of Nigeria had refused to shift the deadline. Other states, including Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Kano, Sokoto, Ogun, and Cross River, had also joined the case as co-plaintiffs.
