To concerned stakeholders, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting PLC (NSPMC) popularly known as the Mint, which has come under public scrutiny lately on account of the rising incident of alleged fraud involving management staff and the rank and file, speaks volume of the decadence in the system. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf examines the issues
IN those days, the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company was the first choice for prospective graduates. Working at the Mint then was the best thing that could happen to anybody because of the prestige and fat pay checks. In fact, we were always getting pay rise and allowances at 12 months interval. Money was never an issue. But things took a turn for the worse when politicians began to interfere in the operations thereby impeding the growth of the company.”
The foregoing anecdote is from Bola Sodipo (not real name) a retiree of the Mint, who served the company for 17 years before his exit from the company in the late 90’s.
In the good old days
Sharing his experience with The Nation, a former staff of the company, who simply gave his name as Macdonald recalls with glee what it meant to work at the Mint. “Frankly speaking, working at the Mint was a splendid experience. I worked there for about 10 years before I travelled out of the country for further studies in the late 80’s,” he began.
“I can’t easily forget the smell of freshly minted notes which waft through the nostrils. For the period I worked at the Mint, I never recalled going broke or completely hard up. Never! I enjoyed working there and was even hoping to come back after my studies but with the military incursion in politics, I decided against it at the time.”
Expatiating, Macdonald said majority of his contemporaries worked under the supervision of some expatriates from Germany, who were in charge of the intaglio, the printing machine used for producing naira notes.
“Things were done very professionally. The offices were demarcated into two. We had the Currency Division, which prints the naira and the Security Documents Division, which prints visa, checks, security documents and others. As a staff of the Materials Department, you cannot go to the Security Department except with the Chief Security Officer on duty.”
Modus operandi
While giving insight on the mode of operations at the Mint, Macdonald said: “Normally we print currency on a daily basis usually on request. They cut the money into size and they account for the finished products and the waste…The materials unit work with the production department. We cross check figures. All staff involved in the production will not be allowed to go unless figures are harmonised.
“The Intaglio, a German machine is used for printing. This is where they originate the printing. From there they go to Shipping and Numbering. Before they bring them here they have to account for the rim. A sheet in a rim contains about 28 notes. It must be balanced. No staff will be allowed to go anywhere unless what is declared is equal to the amount of paper released to intaglio, which must be kept at the end of the day. Shipping & Numbering will now ensure it balances with the figures declared…Once the numbers are okay the currency department crosscheck this. This is what is issued. All waste must be accounted for. There was total discipline among staff back then.”
On how requisition for printing is generated, Macdonald said: “Usually, a request might come from the CBN that we need the sum of N2billion between now and Friday. Once the request is made, the department responsible for this set to work and tries to deliver to deadline. Even Lagos alone can’t satisfy the printing need…They print in Lagos and Abuja.”
Slide into the abyss
Promising as the story of the Mint sounds, how then did things came to this sorry pass?
Macdonald, who was at the thick of the operations before things went painfully awry, offers plausible explanation.
Without mincing words, he says matter-of-factly, “I want to believe that the change in the operations is responsible. Unlike in the past, there was a closed office, now it is an open office so everybody moves freely. But now the place is an open office. So, naturally, it leaves room for breaches. How can you explain a situation where those working at the currency and materials department are just within earshot?
“Besides, with the decline in welfare, people are easily tempted to get involved in shady deals of course with the active connivance of others desirous of getting a piece of the pie.”
Cesspool of corruption
The Nation gathered in the last three months, a gale of sack has affected over 70 staff including senior and midlevel career officers in Lagos alone over fraud-related offenses.
Confirming this development, a staff of the company who would not be named because he was not authorised to speak said: “The last one that happened sometimes in September, the money was shared inside the office premises in Lagos. But the guy hid his in his laptop bag before he was apprehended by the security. He was caught with N1.5million. The last time they were auditing they discovered that over 750, 000 pieces of unfinished notes estimated at about N371 million was missing.”
Poor welfare
The salaries of members of staff working at the Mint is not fantastic as they are placed on the civil service scale.
Investigation by The Nation revealed that the average salary of a worker on level 4 leaves nothing to cheer about.
“When you compare the package of an average staff at the Mint, compared to their contemporaries at the CBN, NNPC, DPR, among others, they earn pittance… An average worker on level 4 gets a gross earnings of about N650,000.00,” said a source.
Probed further, he said: “This is why there is a high turnover of staff as people get sack under the slimmest excuse. The place is like a banner peel now. There is no job security there at all. If there were to be job security the incidence of fraud will happen on a minimal scale and not at an alarming rate as we have seen.
“Even if they layoff all the workforce at the Mint today, the problem will persist unless the issue of improved welfare is adequately addressed.”
When The Nation visited the Lagos office over the weekend, scores of retirees who had come on the invitation of the management to get their pension went home disappointed as they were implored to report back in a few weeks time.
Speaking with The Nation, a cross-section of the retirees narrated tales of woes, an indication that the labour of their past was not being rewarded by their former employers.
Missing N2.1b: Whodunit?
Following the disappearance of N2.1bn of the newly printed N1, 000 notes at the Mint last December, the Central Bank has set up a panel to probe the security breach.
The suspended Managing Director of the NSPMC, Mr. Ehi Okomoyon’s hope of retaining his position are hanging on a thread, as the outcome of the probe will determine his fate.
According to our source at the Presidency, the panel is saddled with the responsibility of unravelling the fraud and proffering solutions to such security breach.
The source said, “The CBN auditors have swung into action and they are the ones handling the audit of the security breach at the Mint.
“By the end of this month, they would have concluded their audit and their report is expected to be submitted in February because they have covered substantial ground in their probe.”
The source craved for anonymity as he was not permitted to speak on the matter yet. He said as soon as the report from the panel is ready, it will be forwarded to the board of the company for further actions.
“Don’t forget that the Managing Director is still on suspension and he won’t be able to interfere with the investigations, and within the next few weeks, the report will be submitted to the board. It is this report that will determine the fate of the MD,” the source explained.
CBN governor Lamido Sanusi who is the head of the board has asked the Okomoyon and the Head of Security, Mr. Emmanuel Bala, to proceed on compulsory leave.
The conflicting figures of the actual amount that was stolen at the Mint is a thing of worry, the CBN boss initially said it was N2bn, the management of the mint said it was N900, 000.
Meanwhile, the House of representative, following the inconsistency has decided to set up a committee to investigate the missing funds.
Reacting to the move by the House, the Media Adviser to the company, Mr. Obi Adiele, he said NSPMC was ready for investigations.
Speaking with The Nation, Adiele has denied allegations that the mint has recorded series of security breaches. He however maintained that only two cases were recorded but the perpetrators were caught attempting to steal money. He said a security man was caught attempting to steal N900, 000, and another official was caught with N1.5m.
He said, “The amount reported is false. It was not N2.1bn that was stolen. What happened was that there was a security breach and one of the security operatives was arrested with about N900,000 in Lagos.
“An investigative audit panel has been set up to find out what really happened and they are still carrying out investigations. Their report will be ready by the end of January.”
It would be recalled that an employee of the Mint was arrested by the Lagos State Police Command, for allegedly trading in fake currency last September.
The command’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ms Ngozi Braide, had paraded the suspect with Staff No. MSC/4503, before newsmen at the police headquarters, Ikeja.
Braide said that the police was informed by a victim who alleged that he exchanged N900, 000 for US $3, 000 in the suspect’s office located at Benson Plaza, Lagos Road, Ikorodu.
According to the PPRO, the victim later discovered that the naira notes were without security numbers and immediately informed the police.
She said the suspect, who was immediately arrested, had confessed to have stolen the money from his office and told the police that he had been in the business since 2010.
Braide said that one Nissan Pathfinder, with Reg. No. KRD 480 AE and N320, 000 genuine notes were recovered from the suspect.
Ownership structure
Established in 1963 as a limited liability company, the Mint is the Nigerian banknote printer with headquarters in Abuja and Lagos, where printing takes place simultaneously.
The Federal Government owns majority shares of 97.06% through Central Bank of Nigeria (77%) and Bureau of Public Enterprise (20.06%) while De La Rue of U.K controls a paltry 2.94%.
According to analysts, the Federal Government’s involvement in the operations of the Mint has remained its greatest albatross.
The way forward, the analysts have argued, is for the Federal Government to completely divest its shares and commercialise the place. Pray, hope someone is listening?
