Yakubu Maikyau, the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to respond to the Supreme Court order on the use of old naira notes.

In a statement issued on Monday, the lawyer demanded compliance with the ruling of March 3, extending the tenure of the notes, which had been declared obsolete by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“The President should direct the recirculation of the withdrawn old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes and the two versions should continue as legal tender till 31- 12-2023, by which time the redesigned ones would have been printed enough to completely replace all the old notes,” said Maikyau.

He also added that the silence of the Federal Government had “brought hardship to Nigerians and the situation has not abated”.

“Rather than comply with the directives of the Supreme Court, the Federal government stuck to its position despite clear findings that the actions were illegal and unlawful,” he said.

“It is sad and disheartening that the Federal Government and its agency, the CBN, will remain so adamant about the plight of Nigerians as a direct consequence of the implementation of the Naira Redesign Policy.”

Maikyau also pointed out that “public confidence in the other arms of government” had been negatively affected because Buhari demonstrated some “disobedience of the 8- 2-2023 interim order that the new and old versions of naira notes continue to circulate as legal tender until the determination of the pending application for interlocutory injunction”.

“I, therefore, on behalf of all Nigerians, call on the President to immediately direct compliance with the terms of the orders made by the Supreme Court in its judgement delivered on 3 March 2023,” he said.