The Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, has said that the federal government is drifting toward dictatorship by refusing to obey orders of the Supreme Court which directed the use of old naira notes till December 31, 2023.
NBA disclosed this in a statement signed by its president, Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, and made available to THE WHISTLER on Monday.
“We cannot under any guise or presence accept or tolerate any appearance of autocracy or dictatorship. Our system of democratic governance has come to stay, it must not only be respected by all and sundry but must also be jealously guarded and protected.
“This is the greatest test or challenge to our constitutional democracy and the Executive cannot afford to disregard the ORDERS of the Supreme Court made for the benefit of the people that elected it to power,” Maikyau stated in respect of the apex court decision on the old notes.
THE WHISTLER reported that the apex court had on March 3, ordered the usage of the old naira notes alongside the new ones, berating the federal government and the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN for punishing Nigerians with the scarcity of both currencies.
The judgment was in favour of about 10 protesting state governments including Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara, which sought an “injunction restraining the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the commercial banks from suspending or determining or ending on February 10, 2023, the time frame with which the now older version of the 200, 500 and 1,000 denominations of the naira may no longer be legal tender.”
Source: The Whistler