The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has initiated moves to stall the contempt proceedings instituted against him and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele.
CityNews reported that a contempt proceeding had been initiated against Malami and Emefiele for their failure to comply with the Supreme Court order extending the deadline for the use of old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes.
The proceeding was initiated on Tuesday by Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Yahaya Bello of Kogi, and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara States.
The fresh suit filed before the apex court by the three states, who were the original plaintiffs in the suit against the naira swap policy of the Federal Government, warned Malami and Emefiele about the consequences of their continued failure to comply with the apex court’s order of February 3.
The two sets of Form 48, filed by the team of lawyers representing the three states, form part of the applications now awaiting the Supreme Court’s consideration when proceedings resume on Wednesday.
However, a source who spoke to The Nation on the condition of anonymity, said Malami has begun plans to delay the fresh suit filed before the apex court regarding the naira redesign policy.
The source said the minister stated that he does not want the contempt proceedings because of the wrong signal it might send to the international community.
Malami was quoted as saying that since Emefiele carried out a presidential directive, the CBN governor was not personally liable.
Recall that the Supreme Court had 10 in an ex-parte application by the three applicant states given an interim order to the CBN to extend the deadline of the old naira notes from the fixed date, February 10.
Other states including Katsina, Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, and Sokoto have however joined as co-plaintiffs in the legal battle against the Federal Government.
However, the governments of Edo and Bayelsa have joined the Federal Government as respondents in the suit.