EKITI JOINS LAWSUIT AGAINST FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVER NAIRA REDESIGN

The Ekiti State administration has asked to be included as a co-plaintiff in a Supreme Court lawsuit brought against the federal government over the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) deadline for exchanging old notes for new ones and its currency redesign strategy.

The Ekiti State attorney-general and commissioner for justice, Mr. Dayo Apata (SAN), filed an application for joinder at the Supreme Court on Friday, requesting three reliefs.

Attorneys general from Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara states are the plaintiffs in the case with the case number SC/CV/162/2023, and the federal government’s attorney general is the defendant.

“Leave of this honorable court to join the applicant as a co-plaintiff in this matter,” is one of the three reliefs requested by Ekiti State.

An order from the court adding the Ekiti State attorney general as a co-plaintiff; and “And for such other orders as this honorable court may consider appropriate in the circumstances of this matter.”

One of the main justifications for the application was the severe shortage of naira notes in the state since the federal government’s announcement of the policy through the CBN.

The petitioner claimed that the Federal Government of Nigeria’s instruction had a negative impact on livelihood and had caused all Nigerians, particularly those in Ekiti State, severe agony and misery.

The state administration of Ekiti said that because all economic activity in the state has been fully halted as a result of the federal government of Nigeria’s decree, these revenues, levies, and taxes have also been negatively impacted.

He also said that the residents of Ekiti State had experienced tangible concern as a result of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s instruction about the redesign of the naira.