Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), has urged the Supreme Court to cancel the case filed by the three northern States against the currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The AGF, in a preliminary objective filed through his lawyers, Mahmud Magaji and Tijanni Gazali, on Wednesday argued that the Supreme Court doesn’t fall to the jurisdiction of addressing monetary matters.
In the suit dated February 8, The AGF alleged that “the plaintiffs have equally not shown the reasonable cause of action against the defendant.”
Consequently, the AGF asked the court to dismiss the suit as it didn’t fall within the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction.
Citing grounds supporting the objection, he argued that the State Government’s suit challenges the Federal Government through its agency, the CBN, to withdraw old banknotes from the financial system and introduce new ones.
While referencing section 251 of the constitution, the AGF lawyers submitted that the suit, which involves the monetary policy of a Government agency, needs to be taken up by the Supreme Court as it falls under the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court.
“The claims or reliefs are not against the federation, but the Federal Government and its Agency, the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria is distinct from the Federation or the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Plaintiffs have no grievance whatsoever against the Federation of Nigeria.
“This suit has disclosed no dispute that invokes this (Supreme) Court’s original jurisdiction as constitutionally defined,” the AGF lawyers submitted
The Jurist had earlier reported that the state governments of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara filed a suit against the Federal Government over the naira redesign policy of the CBN.
They sought a restraining order to discontinue implementing the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Naira redesign policy.
They submitted that citizens have found it difficult and sometimes impossible to access the new notes for their daily activities. The Supreme Court, in its ruling, granted the ex-parte motion by the northern states and restrained the CBN and FG from banning the use of the old naira notes from February 10, 2023.