The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) with headquarters in Jos, and headed by Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun as Director General, is currently battling with very unpleasant odour oozing from various allegations of monumental corruption and maladministration.
In a petition titled; “Total Collapse of Leadership, Massive Financial Mismanagement, and Betrayal of Public Trust” some concerned staff and stakeholders accused Dr Oluwatoyin Ogun of monumental sleazes ranging from breathtaking level of gross mismanagement, corruption, nepotism, and disregard for staff welfare that have characterized the tenure of the Director General since he assumed office.
The petitioners on the aegis of ‘Advocates for Institutional Accountability, Integrity and Stronger Public Institutions’, stressed that it is a tragedy of national proportions that the ITF, once a bastion of integrity and service, is now a hollow, demoralized, and directionless institution under the watch of Dr Ogun.
They accused the Dr. Ogun of junketing in private jets, indulging in frenzied night clubbing and binges, while the staff of the ITF are overwhelmed and dying in silence, adding that his actions coming from one that promised so much to staff on assumption of office smacks of wickedness, insensitivity or both.
The concerned staff also noted what they described as the systematic destruction of one of Nigeria’s most critical institutions for human capital development under the leadership of Dr. Oluwatoyin Ogun.
Culture of Corruption and Procurement Racketeering
The petition signed by Abdulfatai Abubakar, National Coordinator, Advocate for Institutional Accountability, noted that right from the moment Ogun assumed office, due process has been jettisoned after convening a meeting of contractors where he bluntly announced a deviation from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) guidelines, adding that instead of open bidding and transparent evaluations, the DG introduced a personal list of contractors that were handpicked, favoured, and shielded from competition.
The petition further stated; “What followed was even more appalling: credible reports from contractors confirm that no contract is awarded without a mandatory cash kickback of up to 50% of the contract sum. This is not mere allegation—it is corroborated by multiple sources, including those within the Finance and Procurement Departments.
“How can an organization execute meaningful projects under such crippling conditions? How can artisans be trained, infrastructure expanded, or programmes delivered when half of every budget line is diverted into private pockets? This is not leadership. It is legalized looting,” it said.
The petitioners also noted that the Skill-Up Artisans (SUPA), is nothing but a monumental fraud disguised as innovation with a fake promise to upskill five million Nigerian artisans annually.
The petition stated; “On paper, it was bold. In practice, it has become a financial sinkhole—an elaborate scheme for siphoning public funds. Despite the allocation of over ₦6 billion for the first phase, less than 25,000 artisans were trained. Many of them are yet to receive their stipends of ₦30,000. Master trainers remain unpaid. Tools and equipment promised under the programme are nowhere to be found.
“This is not inefficiency—it is grand-scale embezzlement. SUPA has failed not because the idea was flawed, but because your leadership lacked sincerity, transparency, and competence. The question Nigerians are now asking is simple: where did the billions go?”
The petitioners also raised eyebrows over what they described as “fraudulent use of consultants as a smokescreen for embezzlement which was clearly designed to siphon money under the guise of outsourcing. 
“Rather than empower the already competent and salaried staff within the Fund to deliver on core mandates, your administration has engaged in the deliberate sidelining of professionals in favour of handpicked “consultants”—most of whom are either fronts for your allies, cronies, or shell companies quietly registered and operated by your associates, if not yourself.
“Tasks that fall squarely within the job descriptions of existing staff—ranging from revenue generation, curriculum design, training delivery, ICT solutions, monitoring and evaluation, to even procurement, PR and HR strategy—are now being contracted out at inflated prices to these questionable consultants.
“In many cases, the so-called consultants possess no known office, verifiable history, or demonstrable expertise. Yet they are awarded contracts running into millions. This is not efficiency. It is organised looting,” the petitioners stressed.
They further said; “The practice is two-fold: staff are demoralised and rendered redundant, while public funds are systematically redirected into private hands.
“This scheme has now taken root across various departments—particularly in Training, Procurement, Planning, and Finance. Staff have grown fearful and disillusioned, while accountability structures have been dismantled to enable these abuses to flourish unchallenged.
“The public deserves to know: How many consultants have been hired since your appointment? What were their mandates? How much were they paid?
“This practice, if not promptly investigated and reversed, will bring the entire institutional credibility of the ITF into irreversible disrepute,” they asserted. 
When contacted, the Special Assistant to the Director General of the ITF, Ghani Rotimi said the petition has been flying around for some time now and dismissed it as the handiwork of some of the staff that were displaced by the new order.
Mr. Rotimi later sent the position of some staff of the ITF to Forefront News as part of a response to the petition.
The response by the staff on the name; “PATRIOTIC STAFF FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE IN THE ITF” with no name attached, stated that ITF SUPA DG is highly influential and not a Local Champion, adding that he is always ever accessible and an “All-Round Performer, Ever Fit and Professionally Qualified”.
The alleged respondents to the petition challenged the right of the petitioners to question the Director-General ITF is proud of its own and we will defend him and our staff anywhere in the world.
According to the patriotic Staff for Equity and Justice; “This very publication has given us enough clues to know that elements from ITF’s past who milked the system dry with no tangible achievements and a few of their disgruntled loyalists are behind it.
“The same elements fought Madam Juliet, the former DG of ITF, whom they now praise to high heavens and when their opportunity came, they failed woefully and institutionalized the most amoral, despicable era in ITF’s history.
“You are now in the past and ITF will never return to Egypt. We are waiting patiently for you to man up and come out of hiding to lead your disgruntled troops so that we, the real ITF staff will remind you of the carnage you caused,” they concluded.
