The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, gave a speech on Wednesday calling on the Supreme Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by three states governments against the Naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In a preliminary appeal lodged by AGF through his lawyers – Mahmud Magaji and Tijanni Gazali – the Federal Government argued that the Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction over the lawsuit.
In a court filing dated February 8, 2023, AGF claims that “the plaintiffs failed to establish an adequate cause of action against the defendant.”
They requested that the court dismiss the action on the ground of lack of jurisdiction.
With reference to section 251 of the constitution ,the defence lawyers argued that the action in matters of monetary policy of an authority of the Federal Government falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Justice.
“The demands or relief are not directed against the federal government, but against the federal government and its agency, the Central Bank of Nigeria.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria
They justify the objection with the fact that the complaint of the state governments calls on the federal government through its agency CBN to remove old banknotes from the financial system and introduce new ones.
The Federal Government of Nigeria is distinct from the Federation or the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The plaintiffs have no complaint against the Federation of Nigeria.
“This lawsuit has not disclosed any disputes invoking the original jurisdiction of this (supreme court) as constitutionally defined,” the AGF added.
Three state governments – Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara – had sued the federal government over the CBN’s naira transformation policy.
In the lawsuit filed on February 3, the states asked the Supreme Court to force President Muhammadu Buhari, the CBN and commercial banks to lift the February 10 deadline for the old N200, N500 and N1000 banknotes as legal tender of Nigeria.
Following an ex parte application by the plaintiffs, the Supreme Court ordered the Federal Government to suspend the implementation of the currency redesign policy until the decision on the merits.
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