The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) Plc, on Monday October 21, 2019 pledged a stronger collaboration in the overall interest of the country.
This was disclosed as the managing director of NSPM, Mr. Abbas Umar Masanawa, led a delegation of its management team to EFCC headquarters, where they had a session with the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Ibrahim Magu.
Following the discussions, both organizations saw the need to review the existing Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between them in order to come up with new modalities that would be more beneficial to the country.
Masanawa, noted that NSPM needed a huge support from the EFCC to enable it successfully carry out its assignment in helping the country save money and create jobs for the country’s teeming population, stating further that he needed the Commission’s support in order to deliver on the mandate of domesticating the printing of sensitive documents such as, Nigerian Electronic passport, given to NSPM by President Muhammad Buhari’s administration, which is geared towards job creation and saving of cost.
“Printing e-passport is a mandate from the president and we need the support of the Commission to able to domesticate the printing of the e-passport. We want also the Commission to help us with the capacity to actualize this task,” Masanawa stated.
He further disclosed that the NSPM was equipped with top notch technology that would help the country in eradicating examination malpractices and has the capacity to print election ballot papers.
“We have the capacity to completely stop examination malpractices in the country and we have the machines that print election ballot papers and the capacity is 100 per cent. So, I don’t see any reason whatsoever, which will make us continue to be printing our sensitive national documents abroad as printing our sensitive documents here will save the country a lot of money and generate employment to our people,” he stated.
Magu on his part, assured the NPSM’s team that the EFCC will partner with it and congratulated the team on the milestone the company achieved thus far. He also applauded the zeal in NSPM management team and its resolve to work with the Commission to move the country forward.
“We have a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, in the area of printing sensitive documents. Our documents are sensitive and we cannot continue to risk printing our sensitive documents outside but as you have come, we will work with you in printing some of our sensitive documents,” Magu said.
The Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC, apart from being the foremost in Africa, is the only full-fledged security printing organisation in the whole of African sub- region. It was established in 1963 by the federal government in partnership with De la Rue of the U.K; the company is wholly managed and operated by the federal governmet.