Australian bank note company, Securrency International Pty Ltd, currently at the centre of a scandal for the alleged bribery of Nigerian officials in the polymer bank note deal, is actively working to undermine the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC), a Senate Committee has learnt.

Managing Director of the NSPMC, Ehidiamhen Okoyomon, disclosed this to the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Financial Institutions on Wednesday in Abuja while receiving the committee members who came on a routine visit as part of its their oversight functions on the company, commonly called Mint,

Mr. Okoyomon said that the four foreign companies who had indicated interests to buy the Mint in 2005 were working to jeopardise the activities of the company as a condition that will allow them to buy it. The companies are: De La Rue of the UK, Giesecke & Devrient of Germany, Royal Spanish Mint, FNMT of Spain, and Securrency of Australia.

"Till date, they do not want the NSPM plc to succeed so that they can come back and buy the company," Mr. Okoyomon said.

The four companies have varied interests in currency and bank notes printing.

The new mint establishment

The Mint, which was managed by De La Rue until the 90's, was sold in 2005 in a deal which left the Central Bank of Nigeria with majority shareholding having failed to meet the yearly currency requirements for the Central Bank for over 15 years.

"It was run like a ministry and seen as a drain of government funds invested. (NSPM plc) was virtually crippled as at 2005," he said.

Mr. Okoyomon disclosed that, between 2005 and 2009, the underperformance of the Mint which led to its sale had been fully addressed adding that for the first time the mint printed at least 2.6 billion bank notes for the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2008. He also said that from 2005 till date, Mint had printed about 5.6 billion bank notes for the Central Bank and 460 million voters card on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission making the Mint one of the world's leading printers in the security market.

According to the Managing Director, some actions taken by the establishment have consequently led to a returned profit of over ₦2.5 billion. He added that this was ‘one of the best from any quasi government institution that does not get any statutory allocation from the government'.

Between 2005 and last year, Mr. Okoyomon put 2006 as the year of least return in production terms. That year the new currency restructuring programme was introduced occasioning the production of 620 million polymer bank notes in six months. However as at current reckoning, Mint has pumped out 1.8 billion polymer notes making it the world's leading polymer note printer.

The Mint chief executive sought senate support in securing the production of the E-passport which he claimed is currently printed abroad. "If we are given a chance we can invest in the machines and produce locally."


Source

This is very funny,

Australians in Australia are sabotaging NSPMC here in Nigeria, lol

Anything happening can happen in naija
we are making history

Why can't we import whatever it is we need to make naira notes and send Nigerians for training or even get someone down here to train them on how to use it. Is it that Nigeria can not even produce its own currency, Haba! Our leaders take us for fools too often, they just like these foreign contracts because of the money they make from them, period. They should stop fooling themselves, certainly not me, they are so ridiculous. We have crude, we import fuel, now we can't even produce our own naira notes, "Nigeria we hail thee" or is it "our leaders we hail"

Who's fooling who?. Privatizing a sensitive sector as minting a currency is only promoting corruption and we say we're fighting corruption. Is it not said that the enterpreneur goes for profits at the expense of good utility.

Dem don catch demself. If you live in a glass house, don't throw stones.
I thought they said it was Soludo that was in the wrong, suddenly its the Mint coy! Na wa!

why must Nigeria rely on foreign companies
for everything?why can we take our destiny
into our own hands and take responsibility
for once?
I tire 4 our leaders ooooooooo

mr MD why did you conviniently refuse to adress the bribery allegation against the CBN/Mint? The Aussies said sucurrency bribed the CBN to get contracts, soludo said the CBN doesnt award minting contracts. they asked the mint to produce the polymer and not the Aussy company. it suggests that the mint awarded the contract. the questions are who influenced the CBN/Mint to utilize polymer in place of paper. were bribes involved? (This is a major allegation from the Aussies). who gave out the contracts? were bribes involved? was it fair? did the nation get value for money? these are questions begging for Farida's (EFCC Czar) new found energy to get solved. the MD's talk of running down the mint is diversionary, he want to place sentiments above common sense and analytical thinking. incidentally thats what our leaders do when faced with such situation, its either they hate me cos i am so so religion, tribe, or region. for this case its because 'they dont want the mint to succeed'. Bullsh*t! its the business world man, who wants everyone else to succeed. na them born you? face the allegations, clear the air as transparently as you can. want we Nigerians want is accountability; some one too hold accountable when things go wrong. No side stepping issues pls.[color=][/color][color=][/color]

What do they want us to do?

mrperfect:

What do they want us to do?

hang our heads in shame

A man or group of people who succeed in taking over the printing of money and then lending it back to the people indirectly controls the government and the people.

European Jews control America because they own and control the banks and USA Federal Reserve.

America is still suffereing from having its money controlled by private hands.

The day Nigeria's money is printed by private people and then lended back to the government is the day, the second round of direct colonialism starts in Nigeria.

LETS LEARN FROM THE SITUATION OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE IN THE UNITED STATES.

This mint man must be lieing.A foreign company sabotaging nspmc from where? Austrialia/ Nigeria?

hmmmm, i wonder why all the noise over this issue.
to me personally, SABOTAGE is not a new game to the nigerian government.
look around you, the power sector is sabotaged so some people can make money from the importation of generators and on the sale of fuel. u cant run a generator without fuel.
the oil sector (refineries) have been sabotaged so some people can make money on export of crude and import of refined fuel. many of these people have refineries outside nigeria.
sabotage is not a new game n people in power will continue to do it out of greed except the orientation of OUR country changes for the better.