The Supreme Court has faulted the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The apex court ordered that the old notes of N200, N500 and N1000 remain as legal tender in the country till December 31, 2023.
The ruling was made on Friday while delivering judgment in a suit instituted by three states of the federation.
A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court held that the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes remain legal tender until December 31, 2023.
The highest court of the land faulted the entire policy of the CBN, saying the timing and implementation were defective.
In October last year, the governor of the CBN Godwin Emefiele announced the plan to redesign the naira to control the money in circulation to tackle illicit financial flows.
The redesigned naira notes were unveiled on December 23, 2022.
The deadline for the implementation of the policy was fixed for January 31, 2023, but it was further extended to February 10.
In February, the government of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara instituted a suit against the federal government, challenging the naira redesign policy at the supreme court.
The apex court gave an order restraining the CBN from giving effect to the deadline on the use of old notes following an ex parte application brought by the three states.
Thirteen (13) other states later joined the suit as co-plaintiffs. The states argued that the implementation of the policy has caused untold hardship for Nigerians.
In reaction to the suit, Abubakar Malami, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF), who is the sole respondent, had filed a preliminary objection to the suit.
He argued that the supreme court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and that the suit ought to have been filed before a federal high court.
The AGF also said the plaintiffs failed to join the CBN, which is implementing agency in the suit.
