PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has met with the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, hours after the Supreme Court adjourned the suit filed by state governments to challenge the naira redesign policy of the apex bank till February 22.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed to News Point Nigeria that the CBN governor was indeed expected to see the President and believes that he met with him after the Federal Executive Council meeting today.
The President had 11 days ago appealed to Nigerians to give him seven days to resolve the cash crunch, after the Nigeria Governors’ Forum urged him to allow all old notes circulate in the system to ease hardship on ordinary Nigerians.
On rumours making the rounds that the President may be mulling an extension of the validity of the old naira notes by 60 days, the presidential spokesman said he is not in a position to confirm or deny the narrative.
The Supreme Court had earlier on Wednesday said its February 8 order barring the Federal Government and its agencies from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes still stands.
This clarification became necessary following a complaint by the Counsel to Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, Mr Abdulhakeem Mustapha, that the Federal Government and its agencies have failed to comply with the order and have allegedly directed the rejection of the old notes.
Mustapha said the plaintiff filed a notice of non-compliance with the order of the court made on February 8 and demanded that the court takes action against the respondent to protect the dignity of the court.
The seven-man panel led by Justice John Okoro asked Mustapha to file a proper application to put forward his complaints and to enable the respondent to respond appropriately.
Justice Okoro said there was no need for a renewal of the court’s order.
He noted that, since the order made by the court on February 8 was made pending the determination of the motion for injunctions filed by the plaintiff, the order still subsists since the motion was not yet heard.
The Supreme Court further fixed February 22 for the hearing of the suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states challenging the propriety of the naira swap policy of the Federal Government.
The court chose the date after joining the Attorneys General of Katsina Lagos, Cross River, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti and Sokoto states as co-plaintiffs in the earlier suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states.
