El-Rufai Dares Buhari, Declares Old Naira Notes Legal Tender In Kaduna

February 17, (THEWILL) – Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has declared the old N200, N500 and N1000 notes legal tenders, and directed residents in the state to continue to use them, despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive that the old N500 and N1000 notes be returned to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

While directing the CBN to recirculate the old N200 note to the financial system to ease the current cash crunch, President Buhari, in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday, insisted that the N500 and N1000 notes remain illegal and phased out.

In total affront to the President’s approval of the monetary policy directive of the apex bank, Governor El-Rufai doubled down his opposition to the policy in a statewide broadcast on Thursday night.

The governor, in a counter directive, insisted that all previous bank notes remain legal tender. He described the president’s directive that the new monetary policy of the CBN stands as illegal and an affront on the Supreme Court.

Governor El-rufai directed residents of Kaduna State to ignore what he described as an unlawful order and continue to spend the old bank notes that the CBN has phased out

“Continue to use them as legal tender as ordered by the Supreme Court of Nigeria. No deadline can render them worthless, ever. The law is on your side. The Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 and the Bills of Exchange Act, both oblige the CBN to recognise your old notes and give you value in new notes whenever you bring them to the CBN, even in the next 100 years.