Group Fails in Suit Against CBN, Emefiele

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

A human rights group opposed to the controversial currency redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has failed in its bid to secure a court order to stop the implementation of the policy, which it deemed harmful to 50 million Nigerians who have no bank accounts.

The Incorporated Trustees of African Initiative Against Abuse of Public Trust (AIAAPT) had in November 2022 dragged the CBN, its Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele and the Attorney General of the Federation  (AGF) to the Federal High Court Awka seeking to stop them and their agents/assigns from implementing the monetary policy.

But in its ruling on the suit marked FHC/AWK/CS/195/22 contained in the certified true copy of the Enrolled Order dated 31st January, 2023, obtained yesterday, the court presided over by Honourable Justice H. A. Nganjiwa, struck out the case.

The judge took the judicial action after considering the circumstances and arguments of the counsels to the parties.

The court awarded the N0.3 million as costs to the plaintiffs in favour of the first and second respondents, CBN and Emefiele, respectively.

Counsel to the defendants, Chief Musa Tolani, had asked the court to award N50 million costs against the plaintiffs as punitive costs, arguing vehemently that the first and second defendants had filed “copious processes in response to the plaintiff’s Originating Summons”.

However, the court, while acceding to the demands of the plaintiff’s counsel, did not award the entire sum as demanded.

In their suit the plaintiffs had specifically asked the Federal High Court Awka to stop the defendants from taking any step to enforce the implementation of the Naira redesign policy and non-physical exchange of the old Naira notes with the new notes.

They argued that without a clear policy on how to accommodate the over 50 million Nigerians without bank accounts the CBN should not go ahead with the implementation of the new monetary policy.

The Trustees of AIAAPT claimed they filed the suit dated  November 30, 2022 on behalf of over 50 million Nigerians in different rural areas without bank accounts.

The court had directed the plaintiff to put the defendants on notice and adjourned the hearing of the motion on notice to the 19th January, 2023.

But on resumption of hearing, counsel to the Plaintiffs, N.D Agu orally applied to discontinue the suit and withdraw the same based on undisclosed instructions from his clients.

An Aba, Abia State-based lawyer, Chief Tolani, who led the team of lawyers, comprising Charles Nwabulu, Henry Opurum and Gideon Umeh for the first and second defendants, did not oppose the oral application to discontinue the case.