A lawyer, Roland Aibangbee, has defended the actions of governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele on the deadline for Naira swap, arguing that the apex bank boss actions didn’t contravene the ruling of the Supreme Court.
Recall that the Supreme Court in a suit filed by the Kaduna, Kogi, Zamfara and other states against the Federal Government to stop the CBN from implementing the deadline, had set aside the February 10, 2023 deadline pending the determination of the substantive suit.
However, the federal government declared that only N200 will be circulated, excluding the N500 and N1,000 notes, causing serious controversies with some legal experts accusing the federal government of disobeying the order of the court.
Reacting to the controversy, Aibangbee, a Partner at the law firm, Milestone Partners, argued that the CBN not being a party to the suit makes it impossible to accuse the central bank of contempt of court.
The legal counsel said the CBN can only sue or be sued in its corporate name, which was missing in the suit against the Federal Government.
“The CBN cannot possibly be accused of contempt of court in this case and the ensuing scenario. By section 1(1) of the law establishing it (that is the CBN Act), the CBN is a body corporate that can sue and be sued in its corporate name.
