Apex court in Nigeria, Supreme Court of Justice has ruled that President Muhammadu Buhari led government has replaced Democracy with Autocratic governance in the country.

Supreme Court made the declaration on Friday while ruling on the use of old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes.

Seven-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Okoro ruled that President Muhammadu Buhari disobedience to Court orders is a sign of the failure of the constitution.

Supreme Court held that the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari for the redesign of the new notes and withdrawal of the old notes without due consultation is invalid and unconstitutional.

Justice Emmanuel Agim, a member of the panel, who read the lead judgement, also condemned the President’s disobedience of the apex court earlier order on 8 February, 2023 that the old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes should continue to circulate alongside the new ones pending the determination of the case before it.

Adding, the president’s broadcast of 16 February that only 200 naira notes should remain legal tender made Nigeria’s democracy look like a mere pretension while democracy is replaced with autocracy.

“The disobedience of orders of courts by the President in a constitutional democracy as ours is a sign of the failure of the constitution and that democratic governance has become a mere pretension and is now replaced by autocracy or dictatorship,” Emmanuel Agim, a member of the Supreme Court panel, said in the court’s lead judgement.

Supreme Court thereafter ruled and invalidated the new naira design policy initiated by the Federal Government on the grounds that it was not done with due consultation and in line with constitutional provisions.

The Apex court ordered that the old naira notes shall continue to be used side by side with the new naira notes till December 31, 2023.