THE acting Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund, Adesola Taiwo, has been summoned by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Public Accounts for the agency’s financial operations between 2018 and 2021 without the consent of the National Assembly.
During its investigative session on Yesterday, the committee vowed to investigate how the ITF operated without a budget appropriated by the National Assembly for years, in violation of Section 81 of the 1999 Constitution.
The committee’s Chairman, Oluwole Oke, ordered an immediate investigation and directed the panel’s clerk to write and obtain proof from the Clerk to the National Assembly and the Clerk to the House of Representatives on how the ITF delivered its yearly budgets for the years under scrutiny.
According to its written submission to the committee, the ITF spent N37,592,730,753 in 2018, N43,133,753,661 in 2019, N43,468,030,400 in 2020, and N43,947,801,437 in 2021.
The committee found the extra-budgetary spending when questioning the ITF’s management, which the committee had placed on status inquiry.
The Lawmakers also expressed their discontent with the non-appearance of the acting DG’s, who was represented by Yusuf Abdulmajid, Director of Finance and Administration.
Oke had inquired of the ITF team’s head about the whereabouts of Taiwo, who was scheduled to testify before the committee concerning the allegations leveled against Fund.
The DFA responded that she was on yearly leave, prompting him to represent her.
The committee, on the other hand, insisted that the acting DG appear in person on Tuesday with a copy of the letter approving the leave.
Oke further ruled that the ITF must present evidence that the President genuinely conveyed the Fund’s budget to the National Assembly, which was then evaluated and authorized.
The chairman also ordered ITF to produce its budget performance reports from January 2020 to date, as well as records of donations, grants, and other interventions, a complete breakdown of the amount disbursed, and a comprehensive list of recipients.
The Acting DG, as well as the Directors of Human Resources, Finance, and Procurement, are expected to attend.
