Justice T. B Adegoke, of the Federal High Court (FHC), sitting in Akure, the Ondo state capital, has adjourned hearing in a suit brought to it by a group, Social Rehabilitation Grace and Supportive Initiative (SRG), challenging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over the voiding of old N200, N500 and N1000 naira notes within a period considered too short.
The court, however, resolved to wait on the Supreme Court.
At the hearing of the matter, on Friday, the trial judge, Adegoke, said it was improper for her court to commence trial as the suit is similar to the one pending before the Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land.
Counsel to the SRG, L.E Ukpabi-Owolabi, said the group had brought a motion on notice to amend its originating summons, and also a second motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
But counsel to the CBN, Aderemi Adekile, countered that the motion to amend the SRG’s motion, as it was served on him just 24 hours before the court sitting.
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The presiding judge, in her ruling, noted that as for SRG’s second motion for interlocutory injunction, the plaintiffs should await the verdict of a similar case at the apex court “since the Supreme Court is already seized of the matter”.
Adegoke, who justified the need for her court to wait for the outcome of the case between some state governments and the CBN cum the Federal Government, said: “That is why they are Supreme Court; it doesn’t mean they are infallible but they are the apex court. Whether they are right or wrong, I don’t want to pass any comment. So we wait”.
She subsequently adjourned the suit to March 30, 2023, for hearing.
But the matter also raised some dust among lawyers as some of them queried the legality of the directive by President Muhammadu Buhari that only the old N200 notes should be retained till April 10, while the old N500 and N1000 notes should cease to be legal tender; against a temporary ruling of the Supreme Court that the three old notes should remain in circulation pending its verdict.
Recall that the SRG in the suit had averred that the CBN acted beyond its powers by setting a timeline for the expiration of the old naira notes.
