A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, SAN, has on Sunday, revealed that the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government failed to follow the procedures laid down in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, in re-designing the new Naira notes, .
He added that the new Naira notes may be declared illegal and unconstitutional, if challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction.
Recall, that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on October 26, 2022, announced that it will re-design the N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, to take back control of the currency in circulation.
Though the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that she was not consulted by the Apex Bank on the initiative, President Buhari backed the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stating that he was consulted and fully endorsed the move, especially after hearing the motive behind it.
Falana nonetheless, condemned the entire process.
Read his full statement below:
PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT NOT SUFFICIENT TO LEGITIMISE NAIRA REDESIGN
On October 26, 2022, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, announced that the CBN would issue the redesigned N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, effective December 15, 2022. In kicking against the policy, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, claimed that she was not consulted prior to the announcement.
But President Muhammadu Buhari confirmed that he endorsed the redesign of the Naira in line with Section 18 of the Central Bank Act. Indeed, the President has since unveiled the re-designed Naira Notes as proposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
However, the official endorsement is not sufficient, as the President is mandatorily required to present a Money Bill to the National Assembly for the withdrawal of the billions of Naira from public fund earmarked for the printing of the new Naira notes.
Specifically, Section 59 of the Constitution requires “an appropriation bill or supplementary bill including any other bill for the payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation of any money charged thereon thereon or any alteration in the amount of such payment, issue or withdrawal…”
Since the fund for the printing of the new Naira notes is not captured in the 2022 Appropriation Bill, the President is advised to prepare and present a Supplementary Bill to the National Assembly, to authorise the withdrawal of public funds from any Account of the Federation for printing the new Naira notes. Otherwise, the printing of the new Naira without appropriation by the National Assembly may be declared illegal and unconstitutional, if it is challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction.
Femi Falana SAN
Chair, Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB)
4th December 2022.