Daud Olatunji
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, dismissed a suit seeking the removal of Arabic inscriptions from Nigeria’s naira notes.
PLATFORM TIMES reports that the suit, filed by Lagos-based lawyer Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, argued that the inscriptions portrayed Nigeria as an Islamic state, which contradicts its constitutional status as a secular nation.
Justice Yellin Bogoro, delivering the judgement, stated that Omirhobo failed to substantiate his claim that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) acted in bad faith by retaining Arabic inscriptions on the naira notes.
Omirhobo, who filed the suit in 2020, contended that the Arabic script implied religious bias and violated sections 10 and 55 of the Nigerian Constitution.
He sought an order for the CBN to replace the inscriptions with English or any of Nigeria’s three main indigenous languages: Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo.
The CBN, in its defence, filed a counter-affidavit through Abiola Lawal, asserting that the Arabic inscriptions, referred to as “Ajami,” have historical significance and do not denote any religious connotation or Arab alignment.
The bank explained that these inscriptions date back to the colonial era and were intended to aid those without Western education, particularly in northern Nigeria.
The CBN highlighted that Ajami inscriptions have been on the naira notes since 1973 when the currency was introduced, replacing the British pound.
The inscriptions, the bank argued, facilitate trade among the populace uneducated in Western education and are not a mark of Islamic dominance.
Furthermore, the CBN emphasised that redesigning and printing new naira notes to exclude the Arabic script would incur substantial costs to the government and taxpayers.
The bank’s counsel urged the court to dismiss Omirhobo’s suit, stating that the current inscriptions do not threaten Nigeria’s secular status nor violate the constitution.
Justice Bogoro, in his ruling, acknowledged Omirhobo’s standing to file the suit but concluded that the lawyer did not prove any malice by the CBN.
Consequently, the suit was dismissed.
Despite the dismissal, Omirhobo noted that the judge advised the CBN to consider removing the Arabic inscriptions from higher denomination notes—N200, N500, and N1,000—as it had already done for lower denominations like N5, N10, N50, and N100.
In a related development, Omirhobo has filed a similar suit against the Nigerian Army, challenging the presence of Arabic inscriptions in its logo.
The Army, much like the CBN, has opposed the suit and called for its dismissal.
This ruling marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing debate over the presence of Arabic script in Nigerian public symbols, highlighting the delicate balance between historical practices and contemporary constitutional interpretations.
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