Naira Scarcity: Buhari To Face Legal Action Or Address Nigerians Within 7 Days

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has given a 7-day ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to reveal his plans on obeying the Supreme Court decision on the validity of the old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes.

Last week, the Supreme Court had extended the validity of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes till December 31, adding that the president’s directive on the redesign of the new notes without due consultation is invalid.

Speaking via a letter signed by the director of the Group, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP noted that the public was largely interested in the moves the presidency and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were taking to obey the court order.

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The organisation noted that disclosing the plans being made to obey the court orders would enable the citizenry to closely monitor and examine the level of compliance and subsequently improve accountability.

The letter reads, “There is an overriding public interest in disclosing the de­tails of the measures your government and the CBN are taking to effectively and satisfactorily obey the Supreme Court decision.

“Disclosing the measures that your government and the CBN are taking to implement the Supreme Court decision would also enable Nigerians to moni­tor and scrutinize the lev­el of compliance with the decision

“The public should not be kept in the dark on what your government and the CBN are doing to imple­ment the decision. Widely publishing the implemen­tation measures would also improve accountability of state officials and public confidence in the rule of law and Nigeria’s democracy.”

Speaking further, the group warned that if the information demanded is not made available within 7 days the group would take legal actions against the Federal Government.

The group lamented that they were worried about the consistent disobedience of the government against court orders.

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They insisted that disobedience has led to the violations of the citizens right.

“We would be grateful if the requested informa­tion and recommended measures are implement­ed within seven days of the receipt and/or publi­cation of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our requests.

“The implementation by your government of the CBN policy on the redesign of the country’s currency has contributed to viola­tions of citizens’ rights.