Decline Of Old Naira Notes Ground Activities At Various Court Registries In Lagos

Lagos High Court officials on Monday refused to receive old naira notes from litigants and lawyers on the reason that their official bank no longer accepts them as legal tender.

This prompted business activities at the various court registries in the state to be grounded.

Specifically, account officials at the Ikeja Division of the High Court of Lagos State's registry who spoke on the condition of anonymity revealed that an attempt to pay in old notes collected by them into the government account was denied by the bank.

One of the account officials stated that they have received a directive from their boss to stop collecting old currency, noting that henceforth, lawyers and litigants must not come with the old currency because it will no longer be accepted.

The court official further argued that the only currency acceptable for filing court processes in the Lagos Judiciary Registry is the new notes.

Even one of the lawyers affected by the development confirmed that the Registry at Osborne Division of the court rejected the old note and turned him back from filling his process. 

He affirmed that the problem is not the judiciary official but that of the CBN governor who is visiting anarchy in the nation by jettisoning the Supreme Court order.

According to the lawyer, “None acceptance of old notes would be a catastrophe to the nation. The highest court in the land, the Supreme Court order, is being flouted with impunity. It is obvious that the CBN, especially the governor, Godwin Emefiele, is ready to impose a state of anarchy on Nigeria by directing banks against the order of the apex court.”

As of the time of filing this report, Mr Rasheed Bolarinwa, who is the spokesperson to the affected bank (name withheld) has not replied to the questions sent to his mobile line after several calls. He claimed to be in a meeting.

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court of Nigeria had on February 8, 2023, restrained the CBN from going ahead with the enforcement of its February 10 deadline for the use of the old naira note. 

The Apex Court presided over by Justice John Okoro, arrived at the decision amid an acute scarcity of the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 currency notes.

The court gave the order temporarily based on an application filed by three northern states being controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) namely, Kogi, Kaduna and Zamfara States.

In December 2022, the CBN introduced the new notes amid efforts to fight corruption, terrorism, counterfeiting and related crimes. However, Nigerians have had a hard time getting the new notes amid scarcity and rising tension across the country.

This development has no doubt resulted in protests in parts of the country, with angry Nigerians vandalising ATMs and banks.

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