Human rights activist, Femi Falana, has slammed the Central Bank of Nigeria for disobeying the supreme court verdict on the old naira note.
Recall that three state governments – Kogi, Kaduna and Nasarawa, approached the supreme court to stop the deadline placed by the CBN to stop the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes from being legal tender.
The apex court granted an interim injunction on February 8 restraining the CBN from carrying out the implementation.
The CBN has however disclosed that the old notes have ceased to be legal tender despite the stance of the appeal court.
Speaking in an interview on Channels TV on Tuesday. Falana said the government was not ready to comply with the order.
“In a country where the rule of law operates, once the Supreme Court has determined a matter or given an order, it is expected that all and sundry – everybody – will comply with the order,” he said.
“[A] statement was credited to the Central Bank that since it was not a party to the case, it’s not going to comply with the order. I thought that could only happen in a banana republic.
“I expected the Central Bank to have issued a statement following the order of the Supreme Court: ‘all actions are stale until the 15th of February.’”
According to him, the law will be invoked to deal with those who are deliberately flouting the orders of the court and sabotaging the rule of law in Nigeria.
“For me, an example has to be made this time around, so that nobody will feel that he’s above the law in our country,” he added.
