The Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, dismissed a lawsuit that sought the removal of Arabic inscriptions from naira notes.
Justice Yellin Bogoro ruled against the suit filed by Lagos-based lawyer, Malcolm Omirhobo, who argued that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) used Arabic inscriptions in bad faith.
Omirhobo filed the suit in 2020, arguing that the presence of Arabic inscriptions on naira notes depicted Nigeria as an Islamic state, which contradicted the country’s constitutional status as a secular state.
Omirhobo, who said he could not understand the Arabic inscriptions, had asked the court to direct the CBN to replace them with English or one of Nigeria’s three main indigenous languages: Hausa, Yoruba, or Igbo.
He contended that the Arabic inscriptions violated sections 10 and 55 of the Nigerian Constitution, which established Nigeria as a secular state.
He asked the court to restrain the CBN from “further approving, printing and issuing naira notes with Arabic inscriptions, bearing in mind that Nigeria is a secular state.”
In response, the CBN filed a counter-affidavit, asserting that the Arabic (Ajami) inscriptions on the naira notes did not carry any religious significance or suggest any alignment with Arabian culture.
The CBN clarified that these inscriptions, dating back to the colonial era, were retained to assist those without Western education, particularly in regions where Arabic script was widely understood.
“The inscriptions on the country’s currencies do not and at no time have they threatened the secular statehood of the nation nor have they violated the Constitution of Nigeria, as every design and inscription was finalised with the approval of the relevant government bodies,” the apex bank said.
The CBN explained that the “Ajami inscriptions” on the naira notes dated back to the colonial era “and they do not imply that Arabic is an official language in Nigeria.”
The CBN explained that the naira notes have featured Ajami inscriptions since 1973 when the currency’s name changed from pounds to naira. The bank emphasized that removing these inscriptions would incur significant costs for taxpayers and the Federal Government.
The apex bank said, “The naira notes retained the inscriptions with Ajami since 1973 when the name of the Nigerian currency was changed to naira from pounds.
“The Ajami was inscribed on the country’s currency by the colonialists to aid those without Western education in certain parts of the country, who, back then, constituted a larger part of the populace.
“The Ajami is not a symbol or mark of Islam but an inscription to aid the populace uneducated in Western education in ease of trade.”
In his judgment, Justice Bogoro acknowledged Omirhobo’s legal standing to file the suit but determined that he failed to prove the CBN acted in bad faith by including Arabic inscriptions on the naira notes. Consequently, the court dismissed the suit.
Although the suit was dismissed, Omirhobo noted that the judge advised the CBN to consider removing Arabic inscriptions from the ₦200, ₦500, and ₦1,000 notes, given that they have already been removed from the ₦5, ₦10, ₦50, and ₦100 notes.
The judge highlighted that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country where no religion should be deemed superior.
Omirhobo has also filed a similar suit against the Nigerian Army, seeking the removal of Arabic inscriptions from its logo. The Army, like the CBN, has opposed the suit and requested its dismissal.