- By Kamil Opeyemi
The President is not a micromanager and will not, therefore, stop the Attorney General and the CBN Governor from performing the details of their duties in accordance with the law.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s has dissociated himself from the alleged disobedience of the supreme court over its ruling on the New Naira policy
A statement by the Presidency signed by Mallam Garba Shehu and made available to the NPO Reports Monday evening said the President has never encouraged any of his officials to disobey court orders.
Recall that the apex court had on two occasions made orders on the new Naira policy which were not obeyed.
In the statement, Garba Shehu said at no time did the president ask both the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeriato disobey any court orders involving the government and other parties.
“Since the President was sworn into office in 2015, he has never directed anybody to defy court orders, in the strong belief that we can’t practise democracy without the rule of law and the commitment of his administration to this principle has not changed,” the statement read
It went on to state that following the ongoing intense debate about the compliance concerning the legality of the old currency notes, “the Presidency therefore wishes to state clearly that President Buhari has not done anything knowingly and deliberately to interfere with or obstruct the administration of justice.”
Garba added that the President is not a micromanager and will not, therefore, stop the Attorney General and the CBN Governor from performing the details of their duties in accordance with the law.
”In any case. it is debatable at this time if there is proof of willful denial by the two of them on the orders of the apex court.
“The directive of the President, following the meeting of the Council of State. is that the Bank must make available for circulation all the money that is needed and nothing has happened to change the position,” he added
He said It is an established fact that the President is an absolute respecter of judicial process and the authority of the courts.
“He has done nothing in the last eight or so years to act in any way to obstruct the administration of justice, cause lack of confidence in the administration of justice, or otherwise interfere or corrupt the courts and there is no reason whatsoever that he should do so now when he is getting ready to leave office,” he went on
Defending President Buhari, the media aide said thenegative “campaign and personalised attacks against the President by the opposition and all manner of commentators is unfair and unjust, as no court order at any level has been issued or directed at him.”
He however noted that many Nigerian who bear the brunt of the sufferings are in support of the policy.
He said many people believe that the action would cut corruption, fight terrorism, build an environment of honesty and reinforce the incorruptible leadership of the President.
“It is therefore wide off the mark to blame the President for the current controversy over the cash scarcity, despite the Supreme Court judgement. The CBN has no reason not to comply with court orders on the excuse of waiting for directives from the President.
“President Buhari has also rejected the impression that he lacks compassion, saying that “no government in our recent history has introduced policies to help economically marginalised and vulnerable groups like the present administration.” He stated
NPO Reports that the CBN had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500, and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 following complaints by many Nigerians but the Supreme Court, after a suit filed initially by three states, held that the Federal Government, the CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the February 10 deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue.
However, the President, in a national broadcast on February 16, directed the apex bank to release old N200 notes into circulation to co-exist with new N200, N500 and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days (April 10, 2023). He also said old N500 and N1,000 banknotes ceased to be legal tender in Nigeria.
On March 3rd, the apex court ordered that old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain valid till December 31, 2023.
This was after 16 states of the Federation instituted a suit to challenge the legality or otherwise of the introduction of the policy.
The 16 states led by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara had prayed the apex court to void and set aside the policy on the ground that it was inflicting hardships on innocent Nigerians.
The court subsequently ruled that the President’s disobedience of its February 8 order was a sign of dictatorship, adding that Buhari breached the Constitution of the Federation in the way he issued directives for the re-designing of the Naira by the CBN.