A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has dragged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to court over the floating of the naira.
Recall that the apex bank, on June 14, instructed Deposit Money Banks to allow the naira to float freely against international currencies after the naira traded at a range of 730 to 755 against the dollar at the Investors and Exporters’ window.
Currently, the exchange rate is listed as N744 to N746 after the floating of the naira, according to the CBN website.
Speaking on Friday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Falana argued that the apex bank is obligated to set the exchange rate according to the CBN Act.
Falana said Section 20(1) of the CBN Act states that the official legal tender in Nigeria is solely the currency notes issued by the Central Bank, specifically the naira.
He further explained that Section 20(5) of the Act deems it an offense, punishable by six months imprisonment, for anyone to use any other currency in Nigeria without the approval of the central bank.
The senior lawyer also disclosed that he is challenging the decision to float the naira in court, noting that it is illegal and against the CBN Act.
He said: “There’s no provision for floating the naira. It’s illegal. You say, ‘The value of the naira will be determined by market forces. That is not there in the law.
“I’ve had to sue the Central Bank of Nigeria at the Federal High Court because Section 16 of the Central Bank Act has imposed a duty on the Central Bank to fix and determine the rate of the naira vis-a-vis other currency.”
Falana explained that unless government officials take steps to strengthen the naira and establish it as the sole legal tender in Nigeria, our progress will be limited.
He also noted that the Federal Government’s approval of N5 billion for each state and the FCT as palliatives is a temporary measure intended to divert attention.
He said: “They are temporary measures. Some of them are quite diversionary and the people in government have not addressed the root of the crisis, which is the dollarisation of the economy.
“Whatever palliatives that are announced will be eaten up by the dollarisation of the economy.”
