The Supreme Court, on Friday, nullified the ban on use of the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes as legal tender and extended the the validity of the old notes till 31 December.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision by a seven-member panel of Justices, held that the old banknotes should remain valid legal tenders until December 31.
It held that the old Naira notes should be used alongside the redesigned currencies.
The court held that the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari for the redesign of the new notes and withdrawal of the old notes without due consultation is invalid.
It faulted President Muhammadu Buhari for introducing the demonization policy, without due consultation with the Council of States, the Federal Executive Council, the Civil Society and other relevant stakeholders.
Emmanuel Agim, a member of the panel, who read the lead judgement, also condemned the President’s disobedience of the court’s 8 February order that the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes should continue to circulate alongside the new ones.
He said the president’s broadcast of 16 February that only N200 notes should remain legal tender made Nigeria’s democracy look like a mere pretension while democracy is replaced with autocracy.