The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has defended the choice of Binani Printing Press Limited, purportedly owned by Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for governor of Adamawa State, to print sensitive election materials.
The commission stated Tuesday that Binani Printing Press Ltd was one of the security printing businesses that sought to print security papers for the commission. The commission noted that all of its procurement activities go through transparent competitive bidding.
She is stated to be the owner of Binani Printing Press Ltd in the report.
In a statement released by the commission yesterday in Abuja and signed by the national commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education Committee, Festus Okoye, it was stated that the commission uses open competitive bidding for all of its procurements and that one of the security printing firms that applied to print security documents for the commission was Binani Printing Press Limited.
Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, popularly known as Binani, is a senator from Nigeria serving as the All Progressives Congress’s (9th Assembly) representative for the Adamawa Central senatorial district.
Okoye stated that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) was satisfied that the company is a qualified printer with the necessary technical ability, security consciousness, and skill in printing security papers after reviewing the company’s facilities and performing due diligence there.
He clarified, however, that Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed was not mentioned as one of Binani Printing Press Limited’s directors.
In order to support Nigerian printers and boost the country’s economy, the commission chose to print all the security documents for the 2023 General Election there, he stated.