President Muhammadu Buhari’s ban on the N500 and N1,000 currency has been challenged in court by ten states.
The state governments requested that the Supreme Court rule that the President’s orders from his broadcast on Thursday, February 16 were unconstitutional in the lawsuit they filed through their attorney, A.J. Owonikoko (SAN).
The lawsuit has Attorneys General (AGs) of Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara, Ondo, Ekiti, Katsina, Ogun, Cross River, Sokoto, and Lagos states as plaintiffs, while the defendants are the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), as well as the AGs of Bayelsa and Edo states.
The applicants who cited Section 232(1), Section 6(6)(b) and Section 287(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended in their 12 ground application, stated that Buhari’s directive extending the validity of old N200 notes for 60 days and his ban on old N500 and N1,000 notes are an “unconstitutional overreach and usurpation of the judicial power” of the Supreme Court being that the case is already before the court.
They also claimed that their application protects the Supreme Court’s dignity and will in turn ensure compliance with its orders by all persons and authorities.