The Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurers, and Financial Institutions has declared that banks must start operating as of Monday, February 20, 2023.

Fidel Info reports that the association made this disclosure while delaying the start of its planned strike action on Monday.

As you may remember, the shortage of the naira had led to a number of instances of protests and the destruction of bank facilities all around the nation.

On Sunday, Olusoji Oluwole, the association’s president, announced it.

He did, however, issue a warning that anytime their lives are in danger, members should immediately close their gates and doors to consumers.

He said: “Following the recent unwarranted attacks on members of ASSBIFI, other bank workers, and the destruction of several branches across various states, we were forced to issue a stay-at-home order to our members to safeguard their lives, and properties of their various organisations.”

“Based on the outcome of our discussion, we hereby release the following statements: while our members will resume at their functional branches immediately, the safety and security of their lives remain paramount to us and we continue to demand that visible and adequate security is provided in all operational areas. particularly places that are traditionally known to be volatile.”

“In the event of any threat of attack by the public without visible protection, they have been advised to shut down and move to safe locations until such a time that their safety can be guaranteed,” he said.

He did, however, caution members to evaluate the level of security in their settings before starting operations.

Oluwole stated that the association is worried about the inflammatory and threatening remarks made when banks initially refused to take old N1000 and N500 notes due to instructions from the banking regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The Port Harcourt Refinery, whose activities were originally planned to begin in December 2022, will now begin before the end of the first quarter of 2023, according to the Federal Government.

Fidel Info reports that On Monday in Abuja, during the Federal Ministry of Information’s series on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd. ), regime scorecard, Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, revealed this.

Giving reasons for the delay, Kyari said, “The promise was to start the fuel plant, which is the 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) component of this activity by the last quarter of 2022, but it is not practical. So, we will start it off in the first quarter of 2023, otherwise, every other process is ongoing.”

Giving further details on the state of the refinery, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said, “The rehabilitation of the 60,000 barrels per day is being completed and it is going to be started in the first quarter.”

Speaking on the FG’s planned stop to the importation of petroleum products into the country in 2023, Sylva noted that the Dangote refinery, which has a 650,000 barrels per day capacity, and modular refineries across the country, were contributors to the plan.

He said some modular refineries such as the Waltersmith modular refinery, where the NNPC has a 30 per cent stake, and the Duport modular refinery, where NNPC also has a 30 per cent stake, would also start operations in 2023, promising a significant reduction to the importation of petroleum products.

Sylva also noted that fuel subsidy was not sustainable, adding that petroleum product prices should be market driven in Nigeria like in other countries where products sell higher than Nigeria’s current official PMS price at N180 per litre.

The Minister had, in November 2022, announced that the Port Harcourt Refinery, which has been undergoing refurbishment at the cost of $1.5 billion, and which is projected to be delivering 60,000 barrels per day of refined crude, would commence operations by the end of December 2022.

Following an increase in real estate market values, the Canadian government has made it illegal for foreigners to purchase property in the nation.

Fidel Info reports that the law was passed by the North American nation after the Covid-19 pandemic began, but it became effective on Sunday, January 1, 2023.

Canada made this decision, which will only be in effect for two years, because some MPs thought that buyers were to blame for driving up the supply of properties for investment purposes and driving up prices.

The appeal of Canadian homes, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party last year, is drawing profiteers, powerful corporations, and international investors.

Ottawa also clarified in late December that the ban will only apply to city residences and not to recreational properties like summer cottages.

During the 2021 election campaign, when home ownership was out of reach for many Canadians due to skyrocketing prices, Trudeau offered this short-term, two-year policy.

According to the campaign site, “This is leading to a real problem of underused and vacant housing, rampant speculation, and skyrocketing prices. Homes are for people, not investors.” 

Following their 2021 election victory, the Liberals quietly introduced the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act.

Major markets such as Vancouver and Toronto have also introduced taxes on non-residents and empty homes, as per Associated Press report.

However, in the law, an exception has been made for the immigrants and permanent residents of Canada who are not citizens, as per reports from the country.