In order to avoid problems before elections later this month, three states in Nigeria have petitioned the nation’s highest court to stop the federal government and central bank from discontinuing the usage of old naira currency notes.
The 10-day deadline for individuals to return 1,000 ($2.17), 500, and 200 naira notes has been extended by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), after which they will no longer be accepted as legal cash. The idea has led to severe cash shortages and tumultuous scenes inside banks.
In Nigeria, cash is still the primary form of payment. President Muhammadu Buhari will not be standing in the Feb. 25 election, so some governing party officials have publicly accused the CBN of a plan to sway voters against their candidate.
The three states (Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara state governments in northern Nigeria) are seeking an order “restraining the federal government through the CBN (and) the commercial banks from suspending on the 10th of February 2023 the time frame within which the now older versions of the 200, 500 and 1000 denominations of the Naira may no longer be legal tender.”