A group, Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative, has dragged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to court over the recent ban on cryptocurrency transactions in Nigeria.
Suit No. FHC/L/CS/ 188/2021, filed by the group on Monday at the Federal High Court in Lagos, said the apex bank, which is the first defendant has no power to restrict financial institutions from transacting with cryptocurrencies.
The digital rights lawyers argued that SEC, which is the second defendant, had in a circular dated September 14, 2020, declared cryptocurrencies as a legal digital asset which is “protected under section 44 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)”.
The group beckoned on the court to declare the actions of the CBN as “ultra vires, unconstitutional, null and void” while seeking a “perpetual injunction restraining the 1st defendant from regulating and/or further regulating virtual currencies/ cryptocurrencies in Nigeria.”
However, a former CBN Deputy Governor, Kingsley Moghalu joined many Nigerians to kick against the directives of the Apex bank.
He said there was regulatory dysfunction between the CBN and SEC and also argued that there was no means of exchange devoid of risk.
Moghalu added that if the CBN could manage the risks of paper currency and electronic payments and other means of exchange, it should also be able to mitigate the risks associated with digital platforms such as cryptocurrencies.
