The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) came under fire at the House of Representatives which has demanded an explanation for the over N12 billion difference recorded in its accrued budget actuals as of Dec. 31st, 2022.
Rep. James Falake, Chairman, of the House Committee on Finance, during an interactive session with the management of the Fund over the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper expressed concern over the failure of ITF to embark on revenue generation from over 128,000 private and public quoted companies operating in Nigeria.
After scrutinizing various financial statements submitted to the Committee, Hon. Faleke queried the disparity with the audited report submitted by ITF, revealing a deficit of over N12 billion in the budget’s actual recorded in the Auditor General’s report for the same period.
He queried the operating expenditure of N39.8 billion in 2022 with a total revenue of N45.1 billion 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 entire N3 billion to government coffers.
Safiya Mansur, Director of Finance and Accounts, ITF, said the fund sourced its revenue from 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 with 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.
