An Aba based lawyer, Barr. Emperor Ogbonna has absorbed President Muhammadu Buhari of committing contempt of court.
This is even as he maintained that the President through his broadcast today saved Nigeria from an impending anarchy that would have engulfed the country.
President Buhari had come under fire after announcing extension of the use of N200 old note till April 10.
But in an interview, Barr. Ogbonna maintained that Buhari did not commit any crime.
According to the legal practitioner “what the President did was necessary to save the anarchy that the country was going into. As I am talking to you now, some people do not have money in their pockets.
“The court upon which an order was made against the CBN is a non order because CBN was not joined in the suit.
“And CBN was not joined in that suit, CBN cannot be bound by that order upon which it was not joined as a party. And that it is the reason the CBN is telling you that they will not comply with that the order of the Supreme Court because the CBN knows that you cannot commit contempt proceeding against it when it was not given fair hearing and not a party to the suit.
“Filing a suit without joining the CBN is creating anarchy. The President as the Commander and Chief of the Armed Forces has a duty to make a pronouncement (even though it is the CBN that make pronouncement on the physical policy of the country), but it is now for the CBN to save the country from anarchy by validating what the President said; that only the old N200 note is still a legal tender, because it is only the CBN that determines what remains a legal tender.
“What the President just did was to cure the problem created by the suit.
“The wisest thing to be done by the CBN is to make a public pronouncement to the effect that only N200 shall be a legal tender among the old notes till April 10, otherwise, it becomes a problem because the President doesn’t have the powers to determine physical policies of the country, but the CBN. However, what the President did is a step in the right direction.
“Buhari cannot commit contempt of court because he has immunity. The president of Nigeria cannot be brought for a criminal trial as provided by the constitution.
“Although you can say that the President is the head of government, but his office is different from federal government of Nigeria.
“What the President did is different from what the suit before the Supreme Court is all about. The suit is for February 10, while the President extended the validity of the N200 note till April.
“The President has a duty to govern. He cannot fold his hands and see the country degenerating into anarchy because of the policy of the federal government or Central Bank.
“The actions taken by the governors by going to court is all about interest.
“If you look at what the President said today, he said that the action of the federal government is to kill corruption in the electoral process.
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“It also shows that his action is to stop the monetization of the electoral process. Some states that joined the suit are doing it for their personal interest.”
