Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said old notes remain legal tender in his state despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive limiting the legal tender status of old notes to only N200.
According to El-Rufai, Buhari’s failure to extend the deadline for the exchange of N500 and N1000 is a disregard for the rule of law as the Supreme Court had ruled on the matter.
In his national broadcast on Thursday morning, Buhari announced that the old N500 and N1000 notes had ceased to be legal tender but extended the deadline for N200 notes to April 10.
But in a broadcast on Thursday evening, Governor El-Rufai said circulating N200 only would be inadequate in alleviating the suffering experienced by Kaduna people every day.
The governor said, “It is shocking to see the blatant violation of the subsisting and continuing order of the Supreme Court that all the old and new notes should continue to be legal tender until it gives judgment in the case filed by the Kaduna State Government along with several others.”
He accused the people behind the naira redesign policy of trying to destroy the ruling All Progressives Congress because they could not impose their candidates on others.
He continued, “The decision by the Federal Government and the Central Bank of Nigeria to recognise only N200 as legal tender till April 10th which President Muhammadu Buhari announced on Thursday morning was offered to the state governments as part of proposals for an out-of-court settlement three days ago.
“The Federal Government asserted that this was offered because all the ‘old’ N1,000 and N500 notes had been destroyed. We rejected the offer and proved to the officials that not a single higher denomination note had been destroyed.
“We also believe that circulating N200 only to be inadequate in alleviating the suffering that we see every day. We insisted that all the components of the Supreme Court order should be complied with.”
The governor urged the people of the state not to be in a hurry to dispose of their old naira notes, saying, “Let no artificial and illegal deadline frighten you. Whether you live in towns, villages, or in our isolated rural communities, do not feel stampeded to deposit your old notes in the banks. Hold on to them.
“Continue to use them as legal tender as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. No deadline can render them worthless, ever. The law is on your side. The Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007, and the Bills of Exchange Act oblige the CBN to recognise your old notes and give you value in new notes whenever you bring them to the CBN, even in the next 100 years.
“Therefore, as your governor, I wish to assure you that the Kaduna State Government, in collaboration with elected legislators, traditional institutions, elected local government councils, markets, and traders associations will help you collect, record, document, collate and deliver all your old notes to the Kaduna branch of the Central Bank on your behalf into the new ones immediately after the elections.
“We will also ensure the delivery of your new notes to your various locations without any hardship or expense on your part. We shall save you any panic and the stress of a long journey from your community to the CBN office in our state capital, from March until December 2023 if need be.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all the old and new notes shall remain in use as legal tender in Kaduna State until the Supreme Court of Nigeria decides otherwise. I, therefore, appeal to all residents of Kaduna State to continue to use the old and new notes side by side without any fear. The Kaduna State Government and its agencies shall seal any facility that refuses to accept the old notes as legal tender and prosecute the owners.”
