Nigeria To Begin Local Currency, Election Materials Printing

Nigeria’s government is pushing its Printing Company to take over the printing of sensitive national materials like Bank notes, Identity cards and election materials in a move to cut export of jobs abroad and increase revenue for the company.

VENTURES AFRICA reports that President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, said he has given a directive for security papers such as ballot papers, bank notes among others to be henceforth printed locally to reduce waste by government.

Jonathan was speaking at the launch of the country’s National electronic Identity Card (E-ID), there he declared that Nigeria could not continue to claim to be a giant while continuing to export all kind of jobs, thus empowering other countries than itself.

The President disclosed that he had directed the new governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to restructure the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc to enable it print sensitive items like passports, Bank Notes, Ballot Papers and others. Where the NSPM finds itself unable to singularly carry out the job, Jonathan advised the company to partner global players in the printing industry but ensure that every printing is done in the country.

Jonathan however emphasised on the quality of the products urging the printing company to make sure their prints were of the best standards as well as credible. “Mint must be in a position to tell INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) Chairman that whatever (Electoral Materials) I give you, the security devices are okay and you will get the result you want”, he stated, adding that “We must change our institutions; we must strengthen them to move to the direction we want”.

Talking about the E-ID, President Jonathan, who is widely expected to seek a second term, said he was quite pleased with the job done by National Identity Management Commission (NIMC). Nigerian authorities have failed severally failed in operating an efficient identification system with millions of dollars wasted on failed National ID Card projects.

But Jonathan says his government is finally on the right track to create a standard ICT enabled Identification system, “with NIMC success story, as a nation, we are moving”, he enthused. “I said that everybody talks about change and I always say that is not just to wake up and change. A change is a vector you must have the magnitude and the direction… we must have a direction that we are going. The key thing is to strengthen our institutions and that is why I am happy with NIMC. NIMC almost went the way of Nigerian Airways, Nigerian Shipping Line and Ajaokuta. Now NIMC is coming back”, he added.

Meanwhile, the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc yesterday announced that it dissolved the Executive Management of the Company, which had been in acting capacity.

A statement by the Company Secretary and Legal Adviser, Lawal Adamu, said the board has appointed Mr Joseph Ugbo as substantive Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer and Alhaji Abbas Umar Masanawa as Executive Director in charge of financial strategy of the company.