ITF Tackles MURIC Over Allegation of Nepotism, Religious Sentiment

ITF Tackles MURIC Over Allegation of Nepotism, Religious Sentiment

Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has described as “baseless and sadly untrue” the grave allegation of nepotism and religion sentiment leveled against its Director General, Sir Joseph Ari by the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) warning the group to always crosscheck its facts before dishing them out to the public. In a statement by its Director of Public Relations, Suleyol Fred-Chagu, the Fund took exception to “orchestrated efforts to malign, impugn and whip up negative sentiments against it and its functionaries through outright lies and calculated misinformation as contained in the MURIC release.”

The Fund said, “The Director-General is a devoted Christian, whose lineage, including his direct siblings is populated by both religions. As a result of this, he does not believe in nepotism and tribalism and does not indulge in religious bigotry. Indeed, the DG is a detribalised Nigerian who has formed long lasting and enduring relationships cutting across all faiths and tribes in Nigeria.

“With regards to what the group alleged to be ‘Christianisation’ and ‘Plateaurisation’ agenda of the DG in the ITF, we want to place on record that this is far from the truth and a product of the imagination of the writer as the recruitment exercise conducted in February, 2019 that they hinged their allegations on, followed all due processes and was coordinated by the Federal Character Commission, which even issued a letter of compliance to the Fund after the exercise.

“It must equally be noted that the DG recused himself from the examination\ interview sessions that were conducted by a panel that comprised officials of our parent ministry- the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Federal Character Commission and the ITF Governing Council, which is headed by Alhaji Musa Gwadabe, OFR- a detribalised Nigerian among others.

On the constitution of the Fund’s Management, the Fund said, ”The reality is that as a consummate and experienced administrator, the DG has ensured that all zones are represented in management, which is the first time such has happened in the history of the organisation.”
Chagu said on the allegation that the appointment of the Director-General did not follow due process, “we wish to state that the DG withdrew his services from the Plateau State Civil Service and joined the ITF in 2007 (not 2006 as suggested by the writer). He did not retire as suggested by MURIC as he had not served up to 35 years of service, nor was he of retirement age.

“His first promotion as Director came in 2011. The termination of the appointment of the DG in 2015 was said to be in line with the tenure policy for Directors that served up to 8 years. However, when the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation discovered that he had only served 4 years as Director, it ordered that the DG be reinstated. It was after his reinstatement, that Mr. President graciously appointed him as the DG/CE of the Industrial Training Fund.”

The statement added that since the appointment of Ari as the DG, “the organisation that hitherto was restive suffering from poor perception and performance is now excelling. Indeed, it has transformed into one of the key organisations that are contributing significantly to the attainment of the policy objectives of the Federal Government in line with its mandate.

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