Superflux International Limited has dismissed the reports that it printed ballot papers for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the last general elections.
In a statement by its Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Gabriel Okonkwo, the company also said that it did not print any extra ballot papers to compromised the election, as being widely reported.
The company admitted its association with the Secretary to Ogun State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, who was reportedly interrogated by the Department of State Services (DSS). He was said to be involved with Superflux.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Mike Ozekhome was also said to have submitted a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the Code of Conduct Bureau, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, demanding a thorough investigation into the link between INEC and a printing company believed to be owned by Talabi.
Among the issues said to have been addressed during Talabi’s questioning was the alleged role of Superflux in the Covid-19 palliative controversy.
Okonkwo denied Superflux’s involvement in ballot paper printing and said that Talabi resigned as the MD/CEO of the company in December 2017, following which he was appointed to replace Talabi. He said that Talabi also resigned as a Director of the company in June 2019.
The company also described as “totally appalling, illogical, barbaric, extremely distasteful and blatantly false” the reports that it was used as a conduit for siphoning Covid-19 funds.
The statement explained: “In actual fact, our company as a responsible corporate entity had, despite the low business tempo of that era, decided to support various communities and institutions in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. As a very humane company and being socially responsible, we have in recent past embarked on various projects, interventions and donations. One of these is the N20,000,000 donation to Ogun State Covid-19 Fund on 6th April 2020, which the hack writers and their collaborators found convenient to omit because of their evil intention. Similarly, on 2nd April 2020, the sum of N10,800,000 was paid to Zimanel Global Enterprises for the purchase of food items shared as COVID-19 relief and N2,100,000 was also donated as Covid-19 support, just to mention a few”.
The statement reads: “The attention of Superflux International Limited, a reputable and renowned security printing company in Nigeria, has been drawn to several untrue and mischievous “news” publications containing allegations of it being used as a conduit for money laundering, siphoning Covid-19 funds, and retaining ballot papers for use in favour of a candidate in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.
“Ordinarily, we will rather not join issues with mischief makers on these spurious allegations, which have no foundation in logic but we are compelled to do so in the interest of the members of the public and our esteemed partners who continue to trust us for our longstanding integrity, reputation and excellence in the past 25 years of doing business.
“To address these absolutely false allegations, we wish to state as follows:
“Our Company is extremely mindful and jealously guards the responsibility the nature of our business puts on us as a corporate entity in the interest of our esteemed customers and the general public.
“Contrary to the false and malicious allegations making the rounds, we state emphatically that our Company has NEVER and will NEVER be used as a conduit for money laundering or a vehicle for syphoning public funds or any illegitimate funds at all.
“We find the allegation that our Company retained ballot papers in the 2023 elections for the use and benefit of a particular candidate both disturbing and astonishing as it is totally false in all ramifications.
“For the records, our Company states categorically that it was not contracted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to print ballot papers for ANY elections during the 2023 electoral period.
“We did not print any ballot paper for Ogun State and let alone printing extra to compromise the outcome of the election. Therefore, the false claim by the pliable section of the media that we produced extra ballot papers to feed a parallel channel is not only baseless and malicious, but also aimed at achieving sinister purposes.
“It is in the public domain that the INEC budget for 2023 election was not approved until November 2022. How is it then conceivable that INEC would have contracted and paid our company in 2020 for a job to be executed in 2023, two years before budget approval?
“We state without fear of contradiction that Mr. Tokunbo Talabi resigned as the MD/CEO of Superflux in December 2017 to pursue other causes of interest to him. Subsequently Mr. Gabriel Okonkwo was appointed as the MD/CEO of Superflux commencing from 1st January 2018.
“Mr. Tokunbo Talabi resigned as a Director in June 2019 and his resignation was accepted by our Board of Directors who wished him well in his endeavours. Accordingly, we effected the necessary changes in our registration at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and forwarded the CAC documents to relevant organisations. These should not be a rocket science or difficult to verify if the hack writers and their sponsors have acted as professional journalists but we are not surprised as they set out for purposes other than the truth.
“We further find assertions of being used as a conduit for siphoning Covid-19 funds as totally appalling, illogical, barbaric, extremely distasteful and blatantly false.
“In actual fact, our Company as a responsible corporate entity had, despite the low business tempo of that era, decided to support various communities and institutions in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. As a very humane company and being socially responsible, we have in recent past embarked on various projects, interventions and donations. One of these is the N20,000,000 donation to Ogun State Covid-19 Fund on 6th April 2020, which the hack writers and their collaborators found convenient to omit because of their evil intention. Similarly, on 2nd April 2020, the sum of N10,800,000 was paid to Zimanel Global Enterprises for the purchase of food items shared as Covid-19 relief and N2,100,000 was also donated as Covid-19 support, just to mention a few.
“All donations made by us were naturally debited in our accounts but, in their mischief, the fake news peddlers presented them as collections/credits.
“Therefore, we find it shocking that these mischief makers twisted the genuine support that we gave the Ogun State Government as a corporate entity and as part of our corporate social responsibility during the Covid-19 pandemic to their own ends in order to malign our company.
“Contrary to what is being peddled, we actually made significant contributions from our own funds to support the indigent and vulnerable to the tune of several millions of Naira as authorized and approved by our Board of directors. We neither solicited nor received any funds from any entities in relation to the fight against Covid-19.
“We find objectionable, the intrusion into our privacy and we are resolved to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to book as our legal advisers have been briefed accordingly to take appropriate steps to redeem our image and bring these hawkers of falsehood to book.
“Finally, we thank our customers for their continuing support and hereby warn the peddlers of malicious falsehood to desist from circulating these spurious allegations even as we are taking legal steps in the interest of our reputation, business and integrity”.
