The Federal Government (FG) has moved to end years of financial waste and infrastructure neglect by initiating the revival of the long-abandoned Federal Government Printer facility in Abuja.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, announced the decisive steps yesterday, following an extensive inspection of the multi-billion-naira project site.
The minister described the current state of the facility as “unacceptable” and inconsistent with the accountability goals of President Bola Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope Agenda.”
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The inspection revealed a staggering level of decay for a project that remains largely unutilized despite significant historical investment.
The minister’s visit revealed that the project, whose foundation was laid in 2001 during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, had reached about 70% completion but was never commissioned.
The inspection further showed that high-grade printing machines imported from Germany and India in 2007 remained sealed in their original crates and had never been deployed.
Because the facility had been neglected for nearly two decades, some of the sophisticated equipment had become technologically obsolete before being put to use.
In addition, a 2,000 KVA generator installed in 2011 was found to be idle, having never been powered on.
The Government Printer serves as the official arm responsible for sensitive national documents, including the Federal Government Gazette and legal publications.
The minister noted that the facility’s inactivity has forced the government to outsource critical printing jobs, resulting in avoidable external costs and a loss of internal capacity.
“It is heart-wrenching to see this level of waste in the heart of Abuja,” Idris remarked.
“At a time when the government is working hard to conserve resources and look inward, it is unacceptable that such a massive investment has been allowed to deteriorate year after year.”
The Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation has now begun a comprehensive stock-taking exercise to assess the viability of the remaining assets.
The minister stated that the findings will form the basis of a formal recommendation to the President and the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The planned revitalisation aimed to recover value by salvaging existing investments and upgrading essential components to meet modern standards.
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It also sought to ensure sovereignty by returning the printing of sensitive security documents to a government-controlled environment, while ending waste by eliminating the need for private outsourcing of official publications.
The minister reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to ensuring that every naira of public funds delivers maximum value to the Nigerians.
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