The Nigerian central bank has replaced the boss of the national mint as it prepares to push ahead with a planned privatisation in 2003.

A London-trained Nigerian banker, Muhammad Abubakar Sadiq, has been appointed as the new managing director, replacing Colonel Sambo Dasuki, the government said in a statement.

Mr Sadiq has spent about a decade working for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and acted as its representative on the board of the company that runs it, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC).

According to the Central Bank, the mint "has consistently failed to meet the goals for which it was established". Nigeria's currency is mainly printed overseas.

Privatisation dangers

Some parliamentarians and trade unions have criticised the plan to sell-off the mint, warning of the dangers of putting an agency that prints so many official documents, including passports, into private hands.

They have pointed out that Britain's state-run Royal Mint takes responsibility for printing the pound.

The central bank's statement said the mint was due to be privatised in the middle of next year.

Control of the mint has passed to the central bank after it was cleared to acquire at least a 51% stake in the mint from the 94.31% held by the Finance Ministry.

Twenty percent of the mint will be sold to the public through a public float on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Suspending the mint's privatisation was listed as a key condition for the suspension of impeachment proceedings against President Olusegun Obasanjo by the Independent Reconciliation Committee, a government body appointed to investigate corruption.