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 three billion naira difference recorded in their accrued budget actuals as at December 31, 2022.
The Chairman of the committee Hon 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.
Hon 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 2022 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 entire 3 billion naira to government coffers.
Members of the committee in their separate submissions, advised the ITF to intensify its revenue drive.
The Director, Finance and Accounts of ITF, Mrs Safiya Mansur, said the fund sourced it’s revenue from the one percent training contributions from public and private companies.
According to her, there are one and twenty thousand registered companies that are supposed to be contributing to employers to the ITF, but only fifty seven thousand are up to date in their contribution.
She said that the ITF has 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 include Nigerian Communications Commission NCC, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.
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