NIPOST intercepts N125.2b financial instruments

Financial instruments worth over N125.2 billion have been intercepted by the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) between 2006 and 2014.

Post Master General of the Federation, Mallam Ibrahim Mori Baba, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, called for the passage of postal reform bill currently before the National Assembly, to enable NIPOST assume its rightful place.

He noted that the agency, in collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC), National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency(NDLEA), the Nigerian Customs Service and the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, has tremendously checkmated the use of NIPOST as conduit for transmission of hard drugs, arms and ammunitions and other prohibited items at the International Mail Processing Centre, Ikeja and other sensitive locations in the country.

Meanwhile, the agency has embarked on the computerisation its operations to enhance postal operations in terms of speed and efficiency, in its service delivery, while also working establishing a unique identifiable addressing system that could be used to link every household irrespective of locations, in the country.

Baba observed that the emergence of ICT has tremendously impacted positively on postal services, adding that the desire to make the post office a one-stop-shop motivated the agency to adopt new technologies, with more than 70 per cent of the facilities across the country nowbeen equipped to track and trace features, among others.

He pointed out that the major challenge faced by the present management on assumption of office was the ability to sustain the tempo of renovation of post offices nationwide, through internally generated revenue, adding that sizeable number of post offices have been renovated through public private partnership and build, operate and transfer arrangements.

Source: Guardian