An analyst, Mr. Lanre Oloyed has commended the order of the Supreme Court restraining the Central Bank of Nigeria from enforcing the February 10^th deadline for the swapping of old 20, 500 and 1,000 naira notes.

Commenting on the development on ATN Politics, Mr. Lanre said the judgement of the Supreme Court has brought reprieve to the hardship faced by Nigerians

He said, “The supreme court pronouncement is a welcome development and it is a reprieve to Nigerians given the suffering and hardship they have undergone in the last few weeks.”

He said because the policy was ill-conceived and allegedly targeted at a political opponent, it was bound to fail due to hasty planning.

“When policies are conceived with the motive to witch hunt political opponents, or to settle a particular course such policy is meant to have a kind of negative bearing on the mass because the masses where not prepare for this. Nigerians were not well prepared for this. Also the system with which to effectively implement the policy were not effectively prepared,” he said.

A seven-member panel of the apex court led by John Okoro on Wednesday had granted ex parte application brought by three states: Kaduna, Kogi, and Zamfara. The three states are praying the court to grant an interim injunction stopping the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from ending the timeframe within which the old N200, N500, and N1000 notes will cease to be legal tender. They said since the announcement of the policy, there has been an acute shortage in the supply of the new naira notes in their states. Moving the application on Wednesday, Abdulhakeem Mustapha, counsel to the applicants, prayed the apex court to grant the application in the interest of justice and the wellbeing of Nigeria. The matter has been adjourned to February 15, 2023, for hearing of the main suit.