THE Federal Government has inaugurated the Board members of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC).

While the board members of the FRC is chaired by the immediate past President of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria, Hajia Maryam Ibrahim, that of ITF is chaired by Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, said that the appointment of the board members was based on their knowledge and wealth of experience in their respective areas of specialisation, adding that their appointment would further enhance the overall ministry’s roles and mandates in addressing the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.

His words: “The ministry and all its parastatals share a common mandate anchored on creating the enabling environment to stimulate domestic investment and attract foreign direct investment into all sectors of the economy and making Nigeria the most preferred investment destination; facilitating trade in goods and services and maximising the benefits of international trade through functional bilateral and multi-lateral trade relations with other countries and boosting industrial development and enabling Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as the engine of economic growth.”

While congratulating the board members on their appointments, the minister however warned them not to interfere with the day-to-day running of their respective agencies.

“While congratulating you on your well deserved appointment, may I emphasise that your appointment is on part-time basis. As such, you are not expected to interfere or participate in the day-to-day running of your respective agencies. I must stress at this juncture, that no chairman or board member is entitled to an official vehicle on permanent basis. Same goes for office or residential accommodation.

“May I seize this opportunity to remind you that boards of parastatals are responsible for setting out broad economic, financial, operational administrative guidelines and targets for their various agencies.  They are concerned with policy issues, monitoring of institutional projects/programmes and ensuring that the parastatal’s mandates are realised.  You are, therefore, enjoined to adhere strictly to the provisions of the enabling Acts of your agencies as well as financial regulations and guidelines on administrative procedures.”