The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, joined Lagos, Cross River, Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo and Sokoto states as plaintiffs in the suit challenging the decision of the Federal Government to stop the use of N200, N500 and N1000 old Naira notes as valid legal tenders in the country.
The home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, Katsina, equally persuaded the apex court to allow it to join the other states to challenge the decision.
However, Edo and Bayelsa, filed motions to be joined as defendants in the suit that was initially filed by three northern states- Kaduna, Kano and Zamfara- which originally had only the Attorney-General of the Federation as the sole defendant in the matter.
On its part, Rivers State told the apex court that its own case was different, saying it specifically intends to challenge the N5 million and N100 million withdrawal limits that were set by FG.
Following the joinder of the states, the seven-man panel headed by Justice Inyang Okoro, ordered an amendment of the Originating Summons.
Meanwhile, the governors of Kogi and Kaduna states, Yahaya Bello and Nasir El-Rufai, were in court to witness the proceedings.
The suit has been adjourned till Wednesday for hearing.
The court said it would consolidate all the cases, though it declined to extend the ex-parte order that barred FG from implementing the new monetary policy that was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
However, the court warned the parties, that having submitted the matter for adjudication, they are not to take any action that would affect the subject matter of the litigation.
Source: Vanguard
