The National President and Convener, Comrade Isaac Ikpa addressing newsmen at a press conference in Abuja. Photo credit: Callistus Offor.
By CALLISTUS OFFOR, Abuja-
The Coalition for Good Governance and Rule of Law (CGGRL) on Tuesday, passed a vote of confidence on The Director General and Chief Executive of The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Joseph Ari for entrenching transparency and accountability in operations.
The group, at a press conference in Abuja, refuted the allegations of nepotism by the Muslims Rights Concern (MURIC) against the Executive Secretary, describing it as unsubstantiated and lacking in merit.
In his address, National President and Convener, Comrade Isaac Ikpa, said the Muslim group, in its typical manner, is out to cause an unnecessary distraction in the operations of the agency in an attempt to malign Ari’s character.
“MURIC for inexplicable reasons alleged that 487 staff employed by the Executive Secretary of ITF in 2019, only 90 were Muslims and that this is just 18.48 per cent, while Christians were 81.52 per cent”.
“This is not only uncharitable, it is also an indication that the leadership of MURIC is not in tune with reality and the operational structure of the ITF that emphasizes meritocracy due to the sensitivity of its operations”, he said.
According to Ikpa, MURIC mistook the ITF for a religious organisation where religious considerations should be the yardstick for employment as against experience, qualification and suitability.
Comrade Ikpa noted that the ITF carries out its employment in line with the federal character principle, hence there is no iota of favouritism or nepotism as being speculated.
The coalition, however, urged the general public to disregard MURIC’s statement for lacking in objectivity to cause unnecessary tension in the polity.