Naira Redesign: Lagos lawyer drags Emefiele to court

Barrister Tope Alabi, a Lagos-based lawyer, has approached the Federal High Court in Lagos State to initiate proceedings against the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Godwin Emefiele for allegedly disobeying the Supreme Court orders on its naira redesign policy.

The lawyer made the application via a March 27 ex parte motion in the suit with the CBN governor listed as the sole respondent.

Describing the CBN’s cashless policy as a “cash confiscation policy”, Alabi noted that Naira scarcity had affected the day-to-day running of his office, stating that his staff could not make it to work daily following the non-availability of cash.

He added that commercial drivers “do not have point of sale (POS) devices/machines to collect fares, leading to the inability of his staff to access the office.

The lawyer filed a 28-page affidavit in support of his application where he claimed that the Supreme Court had on March 10 2023, in Suit No. SC. 162/2023, “asked Emefiele to make available and allow the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to co-exist as legal tender with the new N200, N500 and N1000 notes till December 2023.”

“The respondent has refused to comply with the Order of the Supreme Court made on 10 March 2023 till date,” he said