Ogun State threatens to revoke CofO of businesses that reject old notes

By Ibiyemi Mathew

The Ogun State Government has threatened to revoke the Certificate of Occupancy (CofO) of any corporation or store that rejects old Naira notes from members of the public in the State in exchange for goods and services.

This was disclosed in an Instagram post by the Governor of the State, Prince Dapo Abiodun.

According to Prince Dapo Abiodun, “Commercial outlets are hereby reminded that there is an existing court order by the Supreme Court, the apex court in Nigeria, directing that old notes remain legal tender.”

The Governor had also paid an unscheduled visit to a GTBank branch in the state capital, Abeokuta to address the cash crunch crisis ravaging the state.

Recall that the Supreme Court on Wednesday had upheld its February 8 order barring the Federal Government and its agencies from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes. The order became necessary as sufficient currency notes have not been printed by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

However, in a national address delivered yesterday morning, President Muhammadu Buhari announced that he had given “approval to the CBN that the old N200 bank notes be released back into circulation and that it should also be allowed to circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from February 10, 2023 to April 10 2023 when the old N200 notes ceases to be legal tender.”

Thus, the President has ruled out old  N500 and N1000 notes as legal tender in Nigeria contrary to the clear and unambiguous order of the Supreme Court.