Wike supports the December deadline for the old notes, saying it’s “very bad for CBN Gov.”

On Friday, Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike supported the Supreme Court’s decision extending the use of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes to December 31, 2023.

Godwin Emefiele, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), was mocked by Wike, who claimed he had no choice but to abide by the ruling of the supreme court.

“I am grateful that the Supreme Court informed them today that the old money is still good till December.

“Therefore, use the old money if you still have it. The nation’s top court has ruled as such.

“Unfortunately for the Central Bank governor. He is powerless to make a decision. Just after the Supreme Court’s decision in Abuja, Wike declared that no other instruction could overrule its ruling.

On Friday, Wike and Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State, commissioned a 5,000,000-liter aviation fuel dispensing depot at the Ibadan Airport in the Alakia region of the state.

The governor argued that many resources need to be under state government control rather than federal control and called for true federalism and restructuring.

He said that either the airport should be turned over to the Makinde-led administration or the federal government should reimburse Oyo State for the funds it put in the aviation fuel facility.

“For this reason, true federalism and restructuring are topics we are discussing. There are several tasks that the federal government assigns to itself but refuses to complete. By the end of the month, all they do is collect a sizable proportion and start doing all sorts of stuff, he claimed.

The Federal Government’s policy to redesign the naira earlier was declared invalid by the Supreme Court, which also cited it as a violation of the 1999 Constitution.

According to the court, the strategy has caused some people to engage in barter trade in the modern day in an effort to survive.

16 states, led by Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara, asked the Supreme Court to nullify and set aside the policy because it is putting innocent Nigerians through hardship.

Following complaints from numerous Nigerians, the CBN extended the deadline for the swap of old N200, N500, and N1,000 from January 31 to February 10. However, the Supreme Court ruled in a suit brought by the states that the Federal Government, the CBN, and commercial banks could not continue with the February 10 deadline pending the outcome of a notice regarding the issue.

In contrast, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the central bank to put the old N200 notes into circulation by April 10, 2023, to coexist alongside the new N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes for 60 days. Also, he stated that the old N500 and N1,000 bills are no longer valid in Nigeria.

As the President’s announcement and the CBN’s deadline for the redesign of the naira were invalidated as a result, the top court declared on Friday that disobeying the decision from February 8 is a manifestation of tyranny.