Emir of Kano faults CBN cashless policy, seeks public education

Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, has faulted the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), noting that it has wrought suffering on the masses because it was “haphazardly” done. He made the submission when a team from the Bankers’ Committee paid him a courtesy visit in Kano, yesterday.

The monarch advised that instead of rushing the policy, the banks should embark on public enlightenment of Nigerians about the positive changes they stand to gain and CBN should collate feedback.

ALSO, a Lagos-based activist lawyer, Tope Alabi, has sued CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at the Federal High Court in Lagos for alleged disobedience of the Supreme Court order on its naira redesign policy.

He made the application through an ex parte motion in suit no: FHC/L/CS/526/23 on March 27, with Emefiele as sole respondent. Describing the currency swap as a ‘cash confiscation policy’, he said it had affected the day-to-day running of his office, as his staff could not make it to work daily due to non-availability of cash, adding that commercial drivers do not have Point of Sale (POS) device/machine to collect fare.

The lawyer, in a 28-page affidavit in support of his application, recalled that the Supreme Court, on March 10, in Suit No. SC. 162/2023, directed Emefiele to make available and allow the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes to co-exist as legal tender with the new ones till December 31, 2023.

In the affidavit, Alabi said: “The respondent, who had withdrawn N200, N500 and 1000 old notes from circulation on February 10, 2023, has refused to comply with the order of the Supreme Court made on March 10, 2023 asking for release of the old notes.”

He added that CBN’s alleged non-compliance with the order “has affected my job as a legal practitioner, as I could not have access to daily physical cash to carry out my job and meet little daily expenses.

“That I brought this application to seek leave to enforce the Supreme Court order being a non-party to the suit at the Supreme Court,” he said.
No date has been fixed for hearing.