A N1 billion lawsuit filed against former President Muhammadu Buhari, the immediate past Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele, and the CBN has been struck out by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The suit, which challenged the controversial naira redesign policy and its alleged effects on the fundamental rights of a Nigerian citizen, was dismissed by Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo on Monday, April 28.
The legal action was initiated by an Abuja-based lawyer, Uthman Isa Tochukwu, who approached the court seeking redress for alleged hardships caused by the currency redesign introduced in early 2023. The plaintiff claimed that the policy violated his rights and sought N1 billion in damages against the former president, the attorney general of the federation, the CBN, two commercial banks, and the former CBN governor.
Tochukwu alleged that as a result of the policy’s implementation between January and March 2023, his “fundamental rights to freedom of movement and the dignity of his person were breached violently”, especially when he was unable to access his money from the affected banks during that period.
At the hearing on Monday, neither the plaintiff nor his legal representative appeared in court. Their absence, without any formal explanation, prompted counsel to Emefiele and the CBN, Chikelue Amasiani, to highlight the repeated non-appearance of the applicant since the suit was first filed in 2023.
Amasiani told the court that the plaintiff and his counsel had shown no commitment to pursuing the matter. He requested the court to dismiss the application, noting that he would only be willing to address the matter seriously if the plaintiff chose to revive the suit in the future.
Justice Ekwo, after considering the counsel’s submissions, ruled that the matter be struck out due to a lack of diligent prosecution. He observed that the continuous absence of the plaintiff without legal representation or justification suggested the case had been abandoned.
The decision effectively frees Buhari, Emefiele, and the other defendants from the N1 billion claim linked to the controversial naira redesign initiative.
