Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the redesign of the
naira may be illegal if President Muhammadu Buhari did not seek approval of the
national assembly for the funds used for the initiative.
On November 23, Buhari unveiled the new currency notes at
the state house, Abuja.
The redesigned naira notes are expected to be in circulation
on December 15.
Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN), had on October 26 announced the plan to redesign the naira to control
money supply and aid security agencies in tackling illicit financial flows.
Falana, in a statement on Sunday, said the president’s
endorsement of the CBN’s naira redesign policy is not legally sufficient.
He said the president should have presented a “money bill”
to the national assembly to seek approval for the funds used for the project.
Falana said the expense is not captured in the 2022 budget,
adding that the president must comply with the provision of section 59 of the
1999 constitution (as amended).
“However, the
official endorsement is not sufficient as the president is mandatorily required
to present a money bill to the national assembly for the withdrawal of the
billions of naira from public funds earmarked for the printing of the new naira
notes,” the statement reads.
“Specifically, section 59 of the constitution requires “an
appropriation bill or supplementary bill including any other bill for the
payment, issue or withdrawal from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other
public fund of the Federation of any money charged thereon or any alteration in
the amount of such payment, issue or withdrawal.
“Since the fund for the printing of the new naira notes is
not captured in the 2022 appropriation bill, the president is advised to
prepare and present a supplementary bill to the national assembly to authorise
the withdrawal of public fund from any account of the federation for printing
the new naira notes.
“Otherwise, the printing of the new naira without
appropriation by the national assembly may be declared illegal and unconstitutional
if it is challenged in a court of competent jurisdiction.”
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