Naira Swap: Court Stops Buhari & CBN From Extending The February 10 Deadline 

The court also instructed them not to issue any directives before the deadline.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Justice Eleoje Enenche, a High Court judge in the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, has barred President Muhammadu Buhari, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and 27 other banks from tampering with the deadline for the currency reform program on February 10.

They were also prohibited from issuing any directives that were out of date by the court.

They were also prohibited from issuing any directives that were out of date by the court.

The court granted an order directing the CEOs of the banks and their alter egos to show cause why they should not be arrested and prosecuted for the economic and financial sabotage of the country by their hoarding, withholding, not paying, or disbursing the new N200, N500, and N1000 bank notes despite the CBN’s supply of such notes, according to The Punch. This order was granted in response to a motion exparte filed by five of the political parties.

Earlier, if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) postpones the February 10 deadline, 13 political parties threatened to boycott the next general elections.

They said that if the deadline is moved, as certain governors have sought on the platforms of the governing All Progressives Congress, they will not take part in the poll.

The state administrations of Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara were criticized for petitioning the Supreme Court for an order extending the deadline.

The National Chairman of the Action Alliance, Kenneth Udeze said, “We hereby announce that at least 13 out of the 18 political parties in Nigeria will not be interested in the 2023 general elections and indeed we shall withdraw our participation from the electoral process if this currency policy is suspended or cancelled or if the deadline is further shifted”.

Following his meeting with the APC governors, where they urged an extension of the policy, President Buhari has asked Nigerians to allow him seven days to make a decision.