Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), on Thursday said President Muhammadu Buhari has not acted in breach of the Supreme Court’s injunction preventing the federal government from imposing a deadline on the use of old naira notes.
Malami stated this while speaking at the 67th ministerial press briefing at the state house.
He said there are different ways around the order of the Supreme Court.
Recall that the Supreme Court had earlier this month issued an injunction restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from giving effect to the deadline on the use of the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes.
The order followed an ex parte application brought before the apex court by three states Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi.
Despite the Supreme Court’s order, Buhari had last week in a nationwide broadcast, instructed the CBN to re-circulate the old N200 note, announcing that the old N500 and N1,000 notes were no longer legal tender.
Speaking on the development, Malami said: “Where an order is made by a court, you’ve multiple options but let me state before even addressing the issue of the options available at our disposal as a government.”
“The fact, clearly, that we aren’t in breach of any order made by the court, inclusive of any order associated with the naira redesign. We aren’t in breach.
“I believe I am not a banker, but you’ve not gone to establish which bank is it that you’ve gone to present N1000 or N500 notes that have been rejected. So we are not in breach.
“We are doing the needful as a government in terms of ensuring that the right of the government, within the context of the naira redesign, is being protected. So we aren’t in breach.”
Meanwhile, thirteen other states have joined in the suit against the federal government.
The Supreme Court has fixed March 3 to deliver judgment in the suit.