• ICAN urges calm, tasks CBN on making new currency available
• Depositors’ money with banks 100% safe, NDIC assures
• Psychiatrists: Naira scarcity affecting mental health of Nigerians
As the debate rages on over the status of today’s deadline on cash swap policy owing to the injunction granted by the Supreme Court on Wednesday and Federal Government’s objection to the order, the interim chairman of the Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), Femi Falana (SAN), yesterday, explained why CBN must comply with the Supreme Court order.
In a statement, Falana said his speaking up became imperative, because there are reports suggesting that CBN has decided that it will not follow the injunctions of the apex court.
According to the Senior Advocate, such a move will be nothing, but a contemptuous disregard for the rule of law.
Taking a look at the technicalities of the case, which the CBN management is holding on to, to ignore the court order, the legal luminary gave reasons CBN will not disregard the Supreme Court, citing cases that give greater context to the matter on ground.
He said: “The reason adduced for the contemptuous disregard for the rule of law is that CBN is not a party to the case pending at the Supreme Court. It is pertinent to remind the CBN management that in the case of Incorporated Trustees of the Forum for Accountability and Good Leadership v. Attorney-General of the Federation & Ors. (Suit No: FCT/HC/GAR/CV/41/2022), the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory granted an injunction restraining the State Security Services from arresting, investigating and prosecuting Emefiele for terrorism financing. Although he was not a party to the suit, Emefiele has not been arrested on the basis of the court order.
“Therefore, it is height of arrogance of power for Emefiele to treat the ex parte of the Supreme Court with provocative contempt. In view of the looming anarchy in the country, we are compelled to draw the attention of the Central Bank Management to the case of Attorney-General of Lagos State v. Attorney-General of the Federation (2005) 2 WRN 1 at 109 where Tobi JSC of blessed memory cautioned all authorities and persons in Nigeria thus:
“‘In a society where the rule of law prevails, self-help is not available to the executive or any arm of government. In view of the fact that such a conduct could breed anarchy and totalitarianism, and since anarchy and totalitarianism are antitheses to democracy, courts operating the rule of law, the life-blood of democracy, are under a constitutional duty to stand against such action.
“The courts are available to accommodate all sorts of grievances that are justiciable in law and Section 6 of the Constitution gives the courts power to adjudicate on matters between two or more competing parties. In our democracy all the governments of this country as well as organizations and individuals must kowtow to the due process of the law and this they can vindicate by resorting to the courts for redress in the event of any grievance.
“It is public knowledge that the Federal Government has filed a preliminary objection challenging the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to hear and determine the case. In the interim, the Federal Government and its agencies, including the CBN are bound by the valid and subsisting ex parte order of the Supreme Court until it is set aside by the same court. The alternative is to compound the ongoing anarchy and chaos in the land,” Falana explained.
AS the hardship occasioned by the apex bank’s naira redesign policy bites harder, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) has appealed to the public to consider the present situation a passing phase in the nation’s journey towards national prosperity.
The Institute called for calm, understanding, and the resilience that have characterised Nigerians as a people, noting that new policies sometimes have unintended consequences. It stated that, as a result, the present circumstance should not be perceived as a premeditated attempt to inflict undue pains on the masses.
In a statement, yesterday, by ICAN’s Assistant Director, Corporate Communications, Olubunmi Owolabi, president of the Institute, Mallam Tijjani Musa Isa, said the Institute shares the pains of all Nigerians whose lives and livelihood are being disrupted daily due to paucity of new naira notes.
“Unfortunately, the glaring effects of the policy on businesses and other financial transactions have further been compounded by challenges in fuel supply across the nation,” Isa said.
As CBN and other key stakeholders continue to make commendable efforts to address the present challenges, ICAN urged the apex bank to continuously reassess its strategies and expedite actions towards making the new currency notes readily available to the public.
It noted that the current cash-in-hand challenge has revealed the weaknesses in Nigeria’s alternative financial payment solutions. It encouraged deposit money banks, telecommunication and fintech companies to ramp up investments in their systems and processes towards improving the quality of services in the economy in the shortest possible time.
Similarly, the National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) has urged bank customers in the country not to panic over the safety of their money, under the naira swap policy, which has led to scarcity of new notes in circulation, saying that depositors’ funds are 100 per cent safe.
Besides, NDIC debunked speculation that the naira swap policy, which has resulted in panic withdrawal of money in banks by customers and subsequent liquidity squeeze may affect depositors’ funds, saying the current challenges of naira scarcity will soon be over.
The Corporation also called on depositors and creditors of 30 closed microfinance, primary mortgage and deposit money banks to come for verification and payment of the excess of their guaranteed sums.
Managing Director/Chief Executive of NDIC, Malam Bello Hassan, stated this, yesterday, during the NDIC Special Day at the 44th Kaduna International Trade Fair.
Hassan, who was represented by the Manager, Communications and Public Affairs Unit (CPAU), Tanko Ibrahim Yahaya, said the Corporation has realised enough funds to pay all depositors and creditors of the closed banks, adding that the deposit money banks, primary mortgage banks, payment service banks and mobile money operators are all insured up to N500,000 per depositor per bank, while those of microfinance banks are insured up to N200,000 per depositor per bank.
MEANWHILE, some psychiatrists in the health sector have lamented the negative impacts of the current scarcity of naira on mental health of Nigerians.
According to them, the development is negatively affecting the mental health of the people, thus making some of them more vulnerable to mental health conditions.
Vice-President, Association of Psychiatrists of Nigeria (APN), Dr Veronica Nyamali, said the scarcity of naira has contributed to the existing mental health instability in the country.
She also said that the trend has brought many to the verge of developing psychiatric problems.
Nyamali said the naira scarcity has made those who were vulnerable to mental health issues to totally develop mental health disorder, while those not vulnerable are also put at risk.
According to her, the Nigerian economy is still in post COVID-19 era where people are trying to cope and revive their businesses, with the election drawing closer, then suddenly the scarcity of new naira issue crops up, which has inflicted additional stress on citizens.
Nyamali, therefore, advised Nigerians to be conscious of their mental health, particularly, this period so that they could remain mentally stable.
Similarly, Dr Taiyeola Kajero, a consultant psychiatrist with Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, said the naira issue, combined with other challenges, were bound to increase the number of people having mental health disorder.
According to Kajero, many people have resorted to taking drugs and alcohol in the process of trying to cope with the challenges. He also said the situation had put many in depression, with some losing interest in activities that normally gave them joy.
”Before now, people are going through lots of stress in the country, which has led many into depression. And when someone is depressed, anything can happen. It can result in suicide, homicide or even violence,” Kajero said.
On his part, Dr Jibril Nubi, a resident psychiatric doctor, expressed the need for adequate sleep and rest to reduce the risk of mental health conditions among Nigerians. Nubi described poor sleep as gateway to mental illness, adding that the new naira scarcity had deprived many Nigerians of having enough rest and sleep.
He said that some people had resorted to sleeping at bank ATM points in an attempt to withdraw money.
The psychiatrist expressed the regret that many people had suddenly slumped and died due to accumulated stress. He advised that people should reduce stress and create time to rest and sleep.
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