• Friday, March 29, 2024
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Five things to know to start your Saturday

Quality of values (2)

‘Lagosians’ left stranded as ATMs failed to dispense new, old naira notes

Many customers in Lagos State were left stranded on Friday as many Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) were unable to dispense either the new or old naira notes. This situation comes as the expiration of the old naira notes gets closer.

What has made matters even worse is that most traders have started rejecting the old notes for fear of not meeting the deadline and being unable to make transactions with the old notes.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had fixed January 31 as the deadline for the use of the old naira notes, after which the use of the old N200, N500, and N1,000 would become illegal.

Some of the ATMs visited were in Ikorodu, Ketu, Ikotun, Surulere, Apapa, and Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, and it was observed that most of them were either not dispensing the old or new notes—a situation that created a large crowd of people at the very few ones that were dispensing cash.

However, it was discovered that some of the customers who were determined to get a hold of the new notes took the old notes they received from the ATM, especially at Surulere and Ojota, and deposited the monies back over the counter.

Read also: Chaos looms as old naira notes phase out nears

Food prices increased in December 2022- NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its selected food prices watch report for December released in Abuja on Friday, said that prices of selected food items increased in December 2022.

The report said that the average price of 1 kg of boneless beef on a year-on-year basis increased by 28.75 percent from N 1,846.39 recorded in December 2021 to N 2,377.29 in December 2022.

“While on a month-on-month basis, 1 kg of boneless beef increased by 1.70 percent from N2,337.46 recorded in November 2022.”

It showed the average price of 1 kg of local, loose rice increased on a year-on-year basis by 19.21 percent from N424.62 in December 2021 to N506.17 in December 2022.

Tincan Customs grew its revenue by N574.3bn in 2022

Comptroller Olakunle Oloyede, the Customs Area Controller (CAC), Tincan Island Port Command, said that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tincan Island Port Command, generated a revenue of N574.3 billion in 2022.

Oloyede disclosed this at a news conference on Friday in Lagos.

He said the figure represented an increase of N80.90 billion, or 16.39 percent, when compared with the N493.4 billion recorded in 2021.

“This feat can be attributed to the constant rejigging of the existing measures geared toward sustaining the command’s revenue profile.

“It is as well as utilisation of some disruptive strategic measures such as: periodic capacity building, reshuffling and redeployment of officers using the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis and implementation of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) valuation,” he said.

Private sector control of mining sector will accelerate development – Metallurgical centre DG

Prof. Linus Asuquo, the Director-General (DG) of the National Metallurgical Development Centre in Jos, said that the development of solid minerals will be accelerated because of the increased control of exploitation by the private sector.

Asuquo said this on Friday in Abuja, at the first solid mineral resources trade fair, themed “The Role of Organized Private Sector in Achieving Sustainable and Inclusive Economic Growth and Development Through Solid Minerals,” organised by the Nigeria-Isreali Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture.

According to the D-G, the sustainability of such economic growth depends on the roles played by the government and the private sector.

“The government is mentioned here because, in most cases, it is the regulator of mining activities.

“Most early mining activities were driven by the private sector; government participation and regulation came later,” he explained.

Ford recalls 462,000 vehicles for rear camera display failure

Ford Motor Co. said on Friday that it is recalling 462,000 vehicles worldwide due to a potential failure in video output that may prevent the rearview camera image from displaying.

According to Reuters, the U.S. automaker said the recall covers some 2020–2023 model year Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, and 2020–2022 Lincoln Corsair vehicles equipped with 360-degree cameras and includes 382,000 vehicles in the United States.

Ford stated that the recall was prompted by reports of 17 minor crashes related to the recall issue, as well as over 2,100 warranty claims, but no injuries were reported. The recall expands and replaces a 2021 recall of 228,000 vehicles.