Naira Crisis States prepare to prosecute Malami and Emefiele for contempt of court

According to reports, some state governments are preparing to file disobedience charges against Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Abubakar Malami, attorney general and minister of justice of the federal government

Due to their reluctance to implement the Supreme Court's decision regarding the Federal Government's naira redesign policy, the states are preparing contempt procedures against them.

The enrolled order and certified true copy of the Supreme Court decision from last week, which also mandated that the old N1,000, N500, and N200 notes remain in circulation alongside the new notes until December 31, 2023, were reportedly delivered to the Federal Government on Friday.

According to Saturday PUNCH, the Federal Government failed to order Emefiele to distribute the old notes that had already been withdrawn from circulation due to the non-service of the enrolled order and the CTC of the ruling.

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The Supreme Court's decision to refuse the last of the old N1,000 and N500 notes as legal tender had been fueled by President Major General Muhammadu Buhari's (ret.) silence on the issue. In partial compliance with the Supreme Court's ruling, some banks started paying customers with the old notes on Monday. However, by Wednesday, the banks had stopped doing so because the CBN maintained that no such order had been issued.

The enrolled order and the CTC of the decision were delivered to the AGF on Friday afternoon, Saturday PUNCH learned.

Malami was served with the enrolled order and the CTC of the judgment on Friday afternoon, according to counsel for Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states, which brought the Federal Government before the Supreme Court on the matter. Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN), said in a telephone interview that he expected immediate compliance with the judgment as the non-service of the documents had given the government and the CBN an escape route.

Mustapha said, “The Attorney-General of the Federation has been served now and we will take it up from there; if there is no compliance now, we will commence committal proceedings against the attorney-general and the CBN governor. When the Supreme Court talks, the constitution makes it compulsory for all government representatives and everybody to comply with its order. It’s not discretional, you have to obey, it is the last and the final and that is why we have separation of power.

“The presence of separation of power is for checks and balances; when the Supreme Court talks, it must be complied with by all persons.”

The lawyer had earlier told correspondents, “We are waiting for the enrolled order of the court. We are yet to procure it. As soon as we have it, we will take the next step. When the Supreme Court talks, all organs of government comply and if they don’t comply, the rules are clear. We are going to activate the necessary legal steps within the ambit of the law. But we need to get the enrolled order and serve the defendants. That’s where we are.

“Anytime from now, we will be able to get the enrolled order and the Certified True Copy of the judgement, then we will take it up from there. But I can assure you, our clients are monitoring the situation and we will take appropriate steps at the right time.”

Asked what the next step would be if there was still no compliance after serving the AGF the enrolled order and the CTC, Mustapha said, “Courts deal with live issues and not speculations. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it.”

Dr. Umar Gwandu, the AGF's media assistant, could not be reached when called because his phone displayed as being off.

Since the judgment was handed down, state governors, senior attorneys, and other interested parties have urged Buhari to instruct the CBN governor to instruct commercial banks to begin disbursing the old notes alongside the new ones in order to alleviate the naira shortage that has hampered the economy.

Several governors, including Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State, and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, criticized the President and Emefiele's quiet regarding the ruling.

The seven-member panel of the supreme court found that Buhari violated the constitution when he issued orders for the redesign of the naira in its ruling, which was delivered by Justice Agim.

Justice Agim stated that Buhari's broadcast on February 16, 2023, stating that only the N200 note should stay legal tender, made the nation's democracy appear to be little more than a pretense. This was in reference to the Supreme Court's earlier order regarding the new notes.

Justice Agim stated, “Let me consider the issue of the President’s disobedience of the 8-2-2023 interim order that the new and old versions of naira notes continue to circulate as legal tender until the determination of the pending application for interlocutory injunction. It is not in dispute that the 1st defendant refused to obey the said order.

“The President’s 16-2-2023 national broadcast reproduced here in pages 27-31 demonstrates this disobedience. In disobedience of the order, he directed that only the old N200 naira notes be re-circulated. Interestingly, there is nothing to show the implementation of even that directive. I agree with the 9th plaintiff that the 1st defendant is not entitled to be heard by this court when it has effused to respect the authority of this court and the authority of law from which the authority of the President and the government of Nigeria derives.

“The rule of law upon which our democratic governance is founded becomes illusory if the President of the country or any authority or person refuses to obey the orders of courts. The disobedience of orders of courts by the President in a constitutional democracy as ours is a sign of the failure of the constitution and that democratic governance has become a mere pretension and is now replaced by autocracy or dictatorship.”

The court ruled that it had authority to hear the case and dismissed the preliminary objections made by the AGF, Bayelsa, and Edo states.

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