President Muhammadu Buhari has
cancelled all e-passport printing contracts abroad, saying that it will now be
the sole responsibility of the Nigerian Security Printing & Minting Company
(NSPMC).
Femi Adesina, special adviser to
the president on media and publicity, made this known in a statement released
on Thursday.
This new directive means all
existing contracts concerning printing passports and other documents will not
be renewed.
The Nigerian Security Printing
& Minting Company (NSPMC), popularly known as The Mint, was established in
1963 and was saddled with the responsibility of printing the nation’s currency
and security documents for ministries, departments and agencies of government,
banks and other blue-chip companies.
At inception, the Mint was the
largest banknote and security documents specialist printing company in West
Africa until its performance dwindled.
After his appointment as governor
of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele set new targets for the
company including zero importation of currency which has been achieved since
2014.
Speaking on the company, Abbas
Umar Masanawa, the managing director, said: “The Mint has returned to
profitability. From a moribund organization with heavy losses, the company grew
from a loss position of N14.6 million in 2014 to a profit of N14.3 billion in
2018. Turnover also grew from N17.8 billion in 2014 to N61.4 billion in 2018.
“Other achievements include
enhanced production capacity, revenue diversification, reduced cost of
production, the institutionalization of corporate governance, improved staff
welfare and industrial harmony, among others.
“We will conserve scarce foreign
exchange, improve revenue generation, create job opportunities, and boost
acquisition/transfer of technology.”
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