The Federal Government has resolved to obey the ruling of the Supreme Court suspending the February 10 deadline given by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN on the exchange of old Naira notes.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, confirmed the development in an interview with Arise News on Thursday evening.

However, he said that the decision of the government to obey the Supreme Court order on the naira deadline was upon the administration’s inclination to the rule of law.

Also, The Anambra State police Command Police has warned against any act of violence and protest in the state following the unavailability of the new bank notes in the state.

This is even as customers had accused the banks in the state of hording the new bank notes, partnering with point-of-sale (POS ) operators and selling the naira to them at exorbitant price.

Sources alleged that banks sell the new naira notes at N2000 for N 10000 while POS operators sell the new notes at a price of N5000 customers who wanted a cash withdrawal of N10 000 only while no fees were said to be charged when withdrawing by ATM where the new naira notes were unavailable, a thing that the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele had warned against.

In a statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO ), DSP Ikenga Tochukwu titled ‘Scarcity of New Naira notes: Anambra State Police Command Uncovers Plan of Protest’ and made available to journalists in Anambra , Thursday, February 8, 2023 through the Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, the command warned against any form of protests in the state, saying it has uncovered plans by some groups to conduct protests in some parts of the state in connection with the new naira notes.

The police warned ‘mischief makers to desist from it’ saying the6 ‘police had ensured the optimal deployment of human and operational resources towards guaranteeing safety and security in the state’.

“Anambra State Police Command today 8/2/2023 has uncovered plans by some groups of persons to take advantage of the new Naira notes scarcity to unleash violence in some parts of the State. The Command has described the scarcity as not peculiar to Anambra State alone and noted that the Federal Government is doing everything possible to address the situation.

“The Command hereby warns these groups/persons to shelve their planned violence or have the full weight of the law to contend with. The Police, in conjunction with other security agencies, have embarked on confidence-building patrols and ensure the optimal deployment of human and operational resources towards guaranteeing safety and security in the State.

“The Command, therefore, enjoined Anambrains and residents alike not to panic and urge the law-abiding residents/visitors of the state to go about their lawful duties without any fear of harassment or intimidation. In the event to request security services call us on 07039194332 or PRO 08039334002 for a prompt response. The ‘npf rescue me app’ is also available for free download on both Android and Apple IOS, for Android and iPhone users respectively”.

Two telecommunication companies have reported that 9.7 million of their subscribers are still barred from making outgoing calls despite submitting their National Identification Numbers for verification.

The telcos, MTN and Airtel, disclosed in their recent earnings report that 16.2 million subscribers who had their lines barred have submitted their NINs for verification but only 6.5 million had been verified as of September 30, 2022.

In April, over 72.77 million GSM lines were barred from making calls on their SIMs, following a directive from the Federal Government as regards subscribers that had not linked their SIMs and NINs.

It said the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd.), “has approved the implementation of the policy with effect from April 4, 2022. Consequently, the Federal Government has directed all telcos to strictly enforce the policy on all SIMs issued (existing and new) in Nigeria.

“Outgoing calls will subsequently be barred for telephone lines that have not complied with the NIN-SIM linkage policy from April 4, 2022.”

According to MTN and Airtel 19 million and 13.6 million subscribers respectively were affected by the ban. The telcos further stated that the implementation of the policy has affected their revenue.

Airtel said, “In April 2022, the voice services for 13.6 million customers were barred due to non-submission of NIN information.

“As of September 2022, 5.7 million customers (42 per cent) have subsequently submitted their NINs and 2.7 million customers (20 per cent) have been fully verified and unbarred. Revenue growth for the first half of the year was impacted by the effect of barring outgoing voice calls in Nigeria for those customers who had not submitted their NINs.

Amazon Ring has announced Ashour Corporation FZE as the authorised distributor of Amazon Bell products in West Africa.

According to a statement, the agreement was signed between the top management of Amazon Ring LLC and Ashour (a Dubai-based company with a majority stake by Leo Ekeh).

The VP Business Development, Middle East and Africa, Ring LLC, Mr Mohammad Hoda, stated, “We are really excited to partner with a company with global reach to deliver genuine products into the West Africa countries at this time of global security challenges.

“Ashour Corporation will work with TD Africa to develop our products in Nigeria and other countries in Africa. It is also into ICT products distribution and services. We shall be launching in Nigeria, Ghana, and other countries very soon through Ashour corporation.

“Ring LLC security products are global leading products that keep home, offices and properties safe, secure and protected. It allows you to see and speak with visitors, wherever you are in the world without the complications of installation.