Lawan Musa, the Kano State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, has sued the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) over the contentious naira redesign programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Musa, who filed an application on behalf of the Kano State Government, is urging the Supreme Court to declare the delegitimisation of N200, N500 and N1,000 notes a breach of the 1999 constitution and grant an order reversing it.

Furthermore, the suit is challenging the power of president Muhammadu Buhari to single-handedly instruct the CBN to alter the redesign of the country’s banknotes without first discussing it with the National Economic Council and the Federal Executive Council.

The state government also wants the court to give an order discontinuing the cash swap policy introduced by the CBN to enable rural unbanked people exchange their old naira notes for the new ones, according to the PUNCH.

“A declaration that the combined reading of the provisions of the section 148(2) of 1999 constitution and Part 1, and Paragraph 19 of the Third Schedule thereof, the President cannot unilaterally without recourse to the Federal Executive Council and National Economic Council respectively give approval to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the implementation of cash withdrawal limit pursuant to the demonetization economic policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria,” the suit reads in part.

Marked SC/CS/200/2023, the suit also asks the court to declare the action of the CBN and the FGN null and void.

Sunusi Musa, SAN, filed the originating summons on behalf of the applicant.

FIJ earlier reported that the Supreme Court granted an ex-parte application filed by Zamfara, Kaduna and Kogi states, lifting the February 10 deadline announced by the CBN for the recognition of the old notes as legal tender.