Monetary policy and criminal jurisprudence

The last couple of weeks have witnessed a flurry of monetary policy activities that appear drastic and seem informed by a vision beyond what the ordinary mind might see. These policies and the ensuing activities were all done under the authority of the enabling law of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007. The CBN Act clearly stated that in order to facilitate the achievement of its mandate under this Act and the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, and in line with the objective of promoting stability and continuity in economic management, the Bank shall be an independent body in the discharge of its functions. This discourse reviews these critical policies and the ensuing challenges, especially in light of the attempt to use the back door legal system to arrest and detain the CBN governor.

The first was the redesign and introduction of new naira notes to replace the N200, N500, and N1000 notes. According to the CBN, the redesign was informed by a plethora of reasons, including the CBN’s intention to control the amount of money in circulation. CBN announced that a greater part of the money in circulation was outside the banking system and in excess of N2tn. A situation where the apex bank had no control of such a huge amount of money could not foster a monetary policy regime responsive to the developmental needs of Nigeria. It was to improve the security of the banknotes and make it more difficult to counterfeit; checkmate fraud in terms of individuals who have hidden money they stole from the treasury. They would be compelled to either find a way to change it by taking the money into the banking system or would eventually lose the money. Again, there were discussions about the redesign facilitating the checkmating of inflation and dealing a fatal blow to the growing kidnapping and ransom industry. The new notes were launched with funfair and a promise to massively circulate while withdrawing the old notes from December 15, 2022. The terminal date the old notes would cease to be legal tender was stated to be the end of January 2023.

 Most Nigerians were of the opinion that the time frame to bring in the new notes and exchange all old notes for the new notes was too short considering the history of currency change in Nigeria and the fact that it was to be done during a festive season of Christmas and the New Year. There was also the need for massive enlightenment and sensitisation which had not been done to ensure that Nigerians were mobilised for the new money dispensation, no one was left behind or made to suffer loss for not being properly informed of the currency change. However, all that Nigerians heard from the CBN governor in response to the concerns was the strong-headed- no going back and a claim of the authority of the CBN in terms of independent monetary policy making.

Today, there appears to be a tardiness beyond measure, and a movement toward the apparent failure of the deadline. As of Friday, December 23, Nigerians were still being paid with the old notes in banks across the federation. The author of this discourse was at a commercial bank in Owerri, Imo State and got paid with old notes. The unfortunate part of this payment was that no one could even get the sum requested by cheque or withdrawal instruction, in accordance with extant law and monetary policy regulations. At the bank in Owerri, money was being rationed to the extent that no matter what you demand in a cheque or withdrawal instruction and no matter your bank balance, you would not get more than N50,000. Available information indicates that this was not peculiar to Owerri but happened across many states of the federation. Yet, there is no going back on the January 31, 2023 deadline.

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Then came the banger, the CBN announced on December 6, 2022, with imperial glee and absolute ruthlessness that individuals and corporate entities would be limited to over-the-counter withdrawal limits of N100,000 and N500,000 per week respectively. This created a huge outcry. Nigerians were trying to digest the naira redesign and here comes another, a banger and simply not well-thought-out policy that could only punish honest and hardworking Nigerians. Yes, there were behind the scene stories of the need to control vote buying and the influence of money in elections, promote the cashless policy and reduce cash handling by the majority of Nigerians. The CBN in the last couple of days after a nationwide outrage raised the weekly limits to N500,000 and N5m for individuals and corporate entities respectively.

Enter the Department of State Services with an ex-parte application before Justice John Tosho of the Federal High Court requesting for the detention of the CBN governor on allegations of fraud, crimes of national security dimension, and acts of terrorism financing. The details of the activities constituting the alleged high crimes were not provided to the judge but they were simply founded on a deposition in an affidavit just making a general allegation without details. The judge, rightly in my view rejected the application and asked for the CBN governor to be put on notice and the details of the allegations provided.

Some Nigerians may not be happy with the recent monetary policy direction and the fact that Godwin Emefiele sought to contest the presidential ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress while retaining his seat as CBN Governor. When accosted with his desecration of the CBN temple, he did not apologise but rather insulted Nigerians by asking everyone unhappy with his unbecoming behaviour to have heartache. However, this provides no justification for the DSS to surreptitiously move to remove a high-ranking officer of state from his duty post without due process. A detention order from the court would have kept the CBN governor out of circulation for some time and since nature abhors a vacuum, could have simply forced another to act in his stead and maybe, force his resignation. This discourse is of the view that if there are allegations of crime committed by the CBN governor, they should be unfolded to the court and the Nigerian people through a charge after proper investigations have been concluded and a water-tight prima facie case established against him.

This cannot just be done by the DSS. The office of the Attorney General and Chief Law Officer of the Federation ought to be involved. Nigerians must deprecate the old practice of arresting a person before establishing a case against him, go fishing to justify his arrest and use media trial to blackmail and remove an officer from his office. This happened to the former Chief Justice of Nigeria and must not be allowed to happen again.

No matter the odds, Nigerians must insist on due process. The law should prevail in all circumstances. And the law is about justice.