The governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, has given the order for the Wellcare supermarket to be shut down after the store refused to accept old naira notes from clients.

The government, which is against the redesign of the naira, told the state to keep taking the old naira notes.

The state government sued the federal government on Thursday over the redesign of the naira.

Kano wants the federal government to be forced by a court order to stop taking the old N200, N500, and N1,000 notes out of circulation.

After the store was shut down, Baffa Agudi, chair of the state’s consumer protection council, told reporters that legal action would be taken against the supermarket.

Agudi told other Kano merchants that the state government has not stopped people from using old naira notes as legal tender.

He said that any store refusing the old naira notes will be punished harshly.

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In a letter to the governor, the supermarket’s management said they were sorry for what they had done.

It asked the governor to let it reopen its business.

“Due to the federal government policy on the New Naira Notes, we gave wrong instructions to our staff that from the 10th day of February, 2023, only the new approved Naira Notes are to be in circulation,” the letter reads.

“On an expansive investigation with our bankers, they declined to receive old Naira Notes on our behalf, unknown to all parties that the state has a policy that the old notes are to be in circulation.

“On this basis, we sincerely apologise for our actions and deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused the state.

“We humbly plead that our business should be reopened for deserving members of the public as we undertake to receive old notes as valid tender when the state issues an otherwise directive.

“Please do accept our regards and sincere apologies.”