The management of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Plateau State House of Assembly are on a collision course over reports that the fund was planning to relocate its headquarters from Jos.

While the Assembly recently expressed concerns about the purported relocation plan, the ITF management has dismissed the reports as very “unfounded and misleading.”

In a statement by its Head, Press Relations, Mr. Thomas Ngor, ITF noted that there was no plan to relocate ITF from Jos as alleged by the member representing Quaan-Pan South Constituency in the Assembly, Theodore Bala Mayaki.

These reports, ITF said, stem from a Matter of Urgent Public Importance raised during a recent plenary session of the Assembly by Maiyaki.

The statement added: “While the ITF appreciates the efforts of the member to represent his constituency and Plateau State as required by his office, his motion in this instance was unnecessarily alarmist, based on false information, and risks harming the cordial and harmonious relationship that has historically existed between the ITF and the people of Plateau State.

“To address any doubts or potential ill-will caused by the motion, the ITF wishes to clarify the following: There is no proposed relocation of the ITF headquarters from Jos, despite the member’s claim.

“The relocation of agencies involves several processes, none of which have been contemplated by the responsible authorities within the ITF critical to such decisions. Neither the management nor the Governing Council of the ITF, nor the supervising Ministry—the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment—has considered any speculated relocation.”

The ITF stressed that it deeply values its longstanding historical ties and socio-economic contributions to Plateau State, which have been integral to its identity since 1976, when the fund’s headquarters was relocated from Lagos to Jos.