Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and his Kogi State counterpart, Yahaya Bello, have arrived at the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning to monitor proceedings in a suit their states filed against the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the Cashless Policy Regime.
The lawsuit challenges the implementation of the Cashless Policy Regime and the naira redesign policy, which would make old notes of N1,000, N500, and N200 cease to be legal tender. The states, including Kaduna, Kano, and Zamfara, initially filed the lawsuit with the Attorney-General of the Federation as the sole defendant.
However, Edo and Bayelsa have filed motions to be joined as defendants, while Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, has also joined the other states in challenging the decision. Rivers State has filed a separate case challenging the N5 million and N100 million withdrawal limits set by the federal government.
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The seven-man panel headed by Justice Inyang Okoro has ordered an amendment of the Originating Summons following the joinder of the states. The suit has been adjourned until Wednesday, February 16, for hearing, and the court has warned the parties not to take any action that would affect the subject matter of the litigation.
While declining to extend the ex-parte order that barred the federal government from implementing the new monetary policy introduced by the CBN, the court said it would consolidate all the cases.
