New Naira: Supreme Court Adjourns Suit as Protest Resumes in Lagos, Ogun, Oyo

Femi Ashekun & Ololade Adeyanju/

The Supreme Court has, again, adjourned hearing in a suit filed by Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara States against the Federal Government seeking a restraining order to stop the full implementation of the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The suit was initially adjourned by the apex court till today on February 8, 2023, with all parties involved present.

The Governors of Kaduna and Kogi States, Nasir el-Rufai and Yahaya Bello, were in court for the resumed hearing today.

So also were two Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party: Douye Diri of Baylesa State and Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, who were seeking to be joined in the suit filed by Governor of the All Progressives Congress.

However, shortly after hearing started, the Seven-Man Panel of the apex court, led by Justice John Inyang Okoro, adjourned till February 22, 2023.

Meanwhile, protests against naira scarcity occasioned by the currency swap policy has resumed in parts of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States.

The protests had earlier been suspended after the Federal Government announced the extension of the deadline for spending the old naira notes by 10 days from January 31 till February 10.

But following the decision by the CBN to stick to the deadline of February 10, in violation of the interim order of the Supreme Court, which suspended the introduction of the new naira, protests reportedly resumed in parts of Lagos and Ogun States, yesterday, with some aggrieved youths blocking a section of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Also, this morning, NewsmakersNG reports that the presence of soldiers and other security agencies in Joju area of Sango-Ota has prevented the protests from resuming in the area.

Pockets of protests also reportedly broke out in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, this morning.

NewsmakersNG learned that the protesters first converged at Eleyele junction, in Ibadan North West Local Government Area of the state. The protesters blocked the ever-busy Eleyele-Ologuneru-Eruwa road causing gridlock around Eleyele, Ijokodo, Sango-Poly road.

Motorists have been turning back to seek alternative routes while schoolchildren hurriedly return home for fear of being attacked.

A similar protest rocked Ibadan on February 3, with the protesters setting fire to a police station and vandalising a branch of WEMA Bank in the city.

0