GOVERNOR Nyesom Wike of Rivers State on Thursday faulted the ban of old N500 and N1,000 notes by President Muhammadu Buhari despite an order of the Supreme Court saying three old banknotes should remain legal tender till a determination on the case.
Wike, in a media chat after the President’s national broadcast on Thursday morning, described as a “corporate interference”, the pronouncement of the President that old N200 notes remain valid for 60 days while old N500 and N1,000 notes cease to be legal tender.
“The Supreme Court having given an interim order, we should have waited for it. As far as I am concerned, it is a corporate interference which is not good for our system, for our democracy,” the governor said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500, and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 following complaints by many Nigerians but the Supreme Court held that the Federal Government, the CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 22.
However, the President, in a national broadcast on Thursday, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to release old N200 notes into circulation to co-exist with new N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days.
He said old N500 and N1,000 banknotes are no longer legal tender in Nigeria.
