Courts reject old naira notes, turn lawyers, litigants back

As lawyers and litigants were unable to file court documents using the old naira notes as payment on Monday, there was utter chaos at the high courts in Lagos State.

Banks were no longer accepting the old naira notes as legal tender, according to high court registries officials, who rejected them.

This new development adds a new wrinkle to the ongoing naira crisis the nation is currently experiencing.

Lawyers and litigants were urged to pay with new naira notes by account officers at the Lagos Island and Ikeja high court registries, who insisted on this after explaining that their attempts to pay old naira notes they had collected from court users into the government account had been rejected by banks.
Due to the fact that four different banks—FCMB, Polaris, UBA, and Fidelity—rejected the old money when it was taken to them with old notes collected from court users, a staff member at the Ikeja High Court registry said they received a directive from their boss to stop collecting old notes.

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The court representative stated that going forward, litigants and attorneys must only bring the new naira notes.

One of the impacted attorneys, who spoke on the phone but asked that his name not be published, claimed that the Osborne Division of the Lagos High Court’s registry rejected the outdated notes and prevented him from completing his paperwork.
He bemoaned the fact that the Supreme Court’s directive to keep the old naira notes in circulation was being disregarded.

“Rejecting old notes would be disastrous for the country. Orders issued by the Supreme Court, the nation’s highest court, are being disregarded with impunity. It is clear that the CBN, and in particular CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, are prepared to impose anarchy on Nigeria by ordering banks to go against the ruling of the supreme court.

The CBN was prohibited from carrying out its plan to enforce its deadline of February 10 for the use of the old naira note by an interim order issued by the Supreme Court on February 8, 2023.
A seven-member court panel, chaired by John Okoro, issued the interim injunction in the midst of a severe shortage of the newly redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.

The CBN unveiled the new notes in December of last year as part of its campaign against crimes such as counterfeiting, terrorism, and corruption.

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Due to shortages and escalating tension, Nigerians have had difficulty obtaining the new notes.