By EZEKIEL OBI, Abuja –
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says the award of contract for the printing of sensitive election materials for 2023 general elections to Binani Printing Press Limited followed due diligence.
National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated this in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday.
Okoye also said that the name of Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed was not listed as one of the Directors of the company.
Okoye’s statement came in the wake of a report by SharaReporters that the Commission had awarded a contract for the printing of sensitive materials to Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani’s printing firm, Binani Printing Press.
Quoting the contract documents obtained by SaharaReporters on Wednesday and signed by the Secretary to be the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, the report also said that Binani Printing Press, owned by the Adamawa State gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aishatu Binani, was awarded N434,372,649 to print election results sheets for the 2023 general elections.
Okoye said INEC attention had been drawn to a news report that the Commission awarded a contract for the printing of sensitive election materials to Ahmed.
In his statement, Okoye said: “It was alleged in the report that she owns Binani Printing Press Limited.
“Procurements in the Commission go through open competitive bidding and Binani Printing Press Limited was one of the security printing companies that applied to print security documents for the Commission.
“After inspecting the company’s facility and carrying out due diligence at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Commission was satisfied that they are qualified printers with the requisite technical capacity, security consciousness and expertise in printing security documents.
“ However, Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed was not listed as one of the Directors of Binani Printing Press Limited.”
Okoye said that INEC decided to print all the security documents for the 2023 general election in the country to help Nigerian printers and assist in growing the national economy.
He said that INEC would continue to carry out due diligence in its procurement activities
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