Account For Over N3b -Reps Give ITF 24hrs

By Oduyemi Odumade

The House of Representatives committee on Finance has given a 24 hour ultimatum to the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, to account for the sum of over 3 billion naira difference recorded in their accrued budget actuals as at December 31st, 2022.

The Chairman of the committee Mr James Faleke, issued the ultimatum when the management of the Fund appeared before the committee for the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper interactive session.

Mr Faleke observed that the difference was noticed in the accrued budget actuals as recorded in the Auditor General’s report for the same period.

The committee chairman also queried the operating expenditure of 39.8 billion naira in the 2022 budget with a total revenue of 45.1 billion naira by the ITF, with only 2,691 staff nationwide.

He warned that if ITF failed to account for the difference after 24 hours, it would be forced to refund the 3 billion naira to government coffers.

The Director Finance and Accounts of ITF, Mrs Safiya Mansur, said the fund sourced its revenue from the one percent training contributions from public and private companies.

According to her, there are 128,000 registered companies contributing employers to the ITF, out of which only 57,000 are up to date in their contributions.

To ensure compliance, she said, the ITF intensified monitoring of the defaulting companies, where some resorted to litigation but was later resolved due to the intervention of the previous house committee.

Other agencies that appeared before the committee includes, Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.

Edited By Grace Namiji