Naira Crunch: Ekiti Sues FG, To Join Supreme Court Suit

The Ekiti State Government has applied to be joined as a co-plaintiff in a suit against the Federal Government at the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the naira redesign policy and the deadline issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the swap of old notes for new ones.

The Ekiti State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Dayo Apata, SAN, filed the application for joinder at the Supreme Court on Friday seeking three reliefs.

The suit with the number SC/CV/162/2023 has Attorneys General of Kaduna State, Kogi State and Zamfara State as Plaintiffs while the Attorney General of the Federation is the Defendant.

The three reliefs being sought by the Attorney General of Ekiti State are: Leave of this Honourable Court to join the Applicants as a Co-Plaintiff in this suit; An Order of this Court joining Attorney General of Ekiti State as a Co-Plaintiff in this Suit; And for such order or further ordered that this Honourable Court may seem fit to make in this circumstance of this suit.

Some of the grounds upon which the application was premised include an acute shortage in the supply of naira notes in the State since the announcement of the policy by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The applicant, Ekiti State Government, averred that the directive of the Federal Government of Nigeria has affected the livelihood and has inflicted excruciating pain and hardship on all Nigerians, including citizens of Ekiti State.

Also Read: NNPC reveals N4.2tn subsidy needed to meet Nigeria’s current fuel supply

The state government equally averred that the directive of the Federal Government of Nigeria has also adversely affected the revenue, levies and taxes accruable to the coffers of the Ekiti State Government as economic activities in the State are now completely paralyzed.

He further averred that the directive of the Federal Government of Nigeria on the Naira redesign has also created palpable anxiety among the citizens of Ekiti State.

Another ground upon which the application was premised was the fact that Ekiti is a federating state of Nigeria and therefore has an interest in the determination of the Originating Summons in the suit earlier filed by the three states in the federation.

The state government averred that having common interest as other plaintiffs and also in the outcome of the suit sought the leave of the Court to be joined as a Co-Plaintiff in order to be bound by the outcome of the suit.

It stated that no injustice or embarrassment will be occasioned to any of the parties on record if he is joined as a Co-Plaintiff to ventilate the grievances of Ekiti State.

The sole issue formulated for determination is “whether the Applicant has made a case for the Court to favourably consider the Application.”

In a similar development, the Kano State Government has sued the Federal Government while Rivers State Government said it will join the suit against the Federal Government and the apex bank.

The CBN had extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500 and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10 but the Supreme Court held that the FG, CBN, commercial banks must not continue with the deadline pending the determination of a notice in respect of the issue on February 15.