The board of directors of the Nigeria Security Printing Company
(NSPMC) yesterday sacked its management and sent the Acting Managing
Director and two executive directors on retirement with effect from
Monday September 1.
This came few hours after President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to restructure
the mint with a view to making it viable.
In their place, the board approved the appointment of Mr Joseph Ugbo
as substantive managing director/chief executive officer and Alhaji
Abbas Umar Masanawa, as Executive Director in charge of Finance and
Strategy of the company.
Ugbo, according to the statement signed by the Company Secretary/
Legal Adviser, Lawal Adamu, is a seasoned chemical engineer with
engineering and managerial experience with an international
manufacturing firm.
He said the changes are in line with the new strategic direction of
the company aimed at repositioning it as an efficient and profit
oriented entity that would serve not only as the banknote and security
needs of the country but also those of the West African subregion.
The changes in board composition may have been a fallout of President
Goodluck Jonathan marching order to the Central Bank of Nigeria
governor to revamp the mint to enable it handle government’s major
security printing jobs currently being handled by foreign printers,
saying government cannot continue to spend huge sums of money to print
materials outside the country.
Speaking during the launch of national e-ID card in Abuja, Jonathan
said the order was part of the governor’s mandate when he was appointed,
adding that there is no justification for printing electoral
materials outside the shores of Nigeria when they can be printed
locally.
Documents of this nature, he said, are produced by other countries
and so Nigeria cannot afford to empower other countries with such
contracts and create jobs for their citizens, urging the apex bank’s
board to engage best global players to ensure that the moribund company
is revitalized.
“In fact, when I appointed the new CBN governor, I told him that the
Nigerian Security and Minting Company must be reformed. The board must
look into management and get choice global players who are into this
business and partner with them.
There is no way we should be doing local government elections, House
of Assembly or governorship in Oyo, Ekiti, Adamawa and all what we will
use is done outside this country.
Other countries produce their needs and yet we claim to be a giant in
Africa. A giant that will just send everything out and empower others
and we don’t create jobs for our people, he said.
And so Mint must be restructured and both INEC and other bodies
should patronize it because going forward, the Federal Executive Council
cannot give approval for any printing whether passport or anything
except Mint says it cannot produce that. As far as Mint can produce it,
we must produce everything in this country.
But then those who will use these services must have their
credibility to protect. That means that Mint must be in a position to
tell INEC Chairman that whatever I give you, the security devices are
okay and you will get the result you want. We must change our
institutions. We must strengthen them to move to the direction we
want” he said.
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