The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has finally endorsed and approved a partnership with the Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON) for the printing and production of the 2023 electoral materials.
This is coming after many years of public agitations from the CIPPON, a regulatory body in charge of regulating the affairs of the entire print value chain in Nigeria on the need for INEC and other government agencies to involve the institute in the printing and production of ballot papers and other electoral materials.
Recalled that President Muhammed Buhari has signed the amended electoral act, adding that by assenting to the bill the burden on ballot papers will be relieved, which the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu has also pronounced those electoral materials will be printed locally, but CIPPON agitations didn’t stop because the pronouncement is not yet Uhuru until it is officially announced today as INEC and CIPPON President – Mr. Olugbemi Malomo and some members of the council met INEC for discussion on areas of collaboration.
The points agreed at the collaboration meeting are; officially CIPPON certificate is a criterion for getting jobs from INEC and the highest point was when the commission agreed to allow a window of communication saying “this is not just a one-time meeting, you may now have our details, please always come in to offer us advice and recommendations as you will”. The commission stated
This achievement for the chartered body is a reaffirmation that all the agitations of CIPPON are gradually yielding positive responses from the government agencies. Recently, at the print stakeholders conference during the 2022 edition of the Nigeria International Print Expo (NIPEX), CIPPON President, Mr. Malomo during his keynote address said “We are here today to take responsibility, we owe it to ourselves, our future our businesses’ sustainability to make printing profitable again in the face of a daily daunting challenge. We can give up, some certainly will, and we can take responsibility to fight for the sustainability of our businesses. If you’ve no place to go and you are ready to endure till our situation changes, then “it’ll take a village to do that” He stated
He went further to state that “it takes a village to raise a child! So, our institute is saying to their face and not on our status, CIPPON indeed has what it takes to partner with INEC. If you agree spread the news everywhere possible!
