Nigerian president barred from extending demonetization deadline for old naira banknotes – Africa
With just days left until the old naira banknotes are scheduled to be debased on February 10, a court in Nigeria has barred the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele from extending the deadline any further . Opponents of the central bank’s old naira demonetization plan have asked Buhari and Emefiele to extend the deadline again.
CBN asked for another extension of the demonetization period
A Nigerian Supreme Court recently issued an injunction barring the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele from further extending the old naira demonetization period, one said Report. In the order, Eneojo Eneche reportedly told the court that the duo, along with 27 commercial banks, “shall not extend or interfere with the February 10 currency conversion end date or issue any policy that contradicts the February 10 date.”
According to a report, the injunction was granted after four Nigerian political parties asked the court for help to block the central bank’s possible extension of the currency swap deadline. As recently from Bitcoin.com News reports, CBN extended the demonstration deadline from Jan. 31 to Feb. 10 in response to requests from several interest groups and politicians.
Still, many people in Nigeria insist that the 10 extra days is not enough and have lobbied for an even longer extension. Others, such as the governors of three Nigerian states – Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara – have filed a petition in the country’s top court seeking to prevent the CBN from proceeding with the planned demonstration of the old naira banknotes. However, supporters of the CBN’s so-called currency redesign policy – including the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) – reportedly want the central bank to proceed as planned.
Naira Shortage Crisis
Meanwhile, another publication, Sahara Reporters, said that President Buhari recently spoke to Emefiele and Abdulrasheed Bawa, head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), about the shortage of the new naira banknotes. The Nigerian leader also reportedly spoke to the leaders of Nigeria’s governors’ unions.
In addition to protests at banks, Nigerians opposed to CBN’s naira policy have reportedly vandalized ATMs. Bank branches in some of the country’s volatile regions have had to close.
Sign up your email address here to receive weekly African news update in your inbox:
What do you think of this story? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
photo credit: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, ariyo olasunkanmi / Shutterstock.com
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src=”
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
Source: Crypto News Deutsch
