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NHIS Governing Council has no Right to Suspend Me – Usman Yusuf

Published

5 years ago

October 23, 2018

Eric

The embattled Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, on Tuesday gave reasons why he ignored his indefinite suspension from office by the governing council of the state-run agency.

He was asked by the council to proceed on suspension on Thursday to allow a panel set up by the council investigate allegations of fraud and misconduct against him.

It was the second time he would be suspended since he assumed office in 2016.

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, first suspended him July last year over similar allegations but he was reinstated in February by President Muhammadu Buhari despite his indictment by the panel that probed the allegations against him.

In that first instance, he had also insisted on disregarding the sanction, saying the minister had no power to suspend him.

On Thursday, the chairman of the governing council, Enyatu Ifenne, announced Mr Yusuf’s suspension again, saying the council had been inundated by petitions against the official.

According to Mrs Ifenne, the official would be sacked immediately should President Buhari be made aware of “one-tenth of the atrocities” committed by Mr Yusuf.

But he has since refused to accept the sanction, and on Monday with the help of a contingent of about 50 police officers broke a barricade mounted by angry workers of the agency to enter his office.

On Tuesday, he explained to BBC Hausa Service the reason he brushed aside the directive of the governing council.

“The governing board has no right to suspend me as the Executive Secretary,” he said in response to a question.

“I notified them in a written document that they lack constitutional rights to suspend or even block me from entering my office.”

He described the allegations of fraud and favouritism against him as baseless, saying they were deliberately levelled against him to divert public attention from “real happenings” in the NHIS.

“From the country I came from, if you say someone is a thief, you have to prove that. But since I came on board, I have being going through unnecessarily accusations of fraud.

“They’re doing that just to intimidate and stop me from doing my good work. They have failed, I will never secumb to their ploy, I think they have to change plan,” Mr Yusuf said.

He alleged that when he assumed office as the Executive Secretary, he was warned by “a handful of people that I have to succumb to NHIS agents or a face a battle.

“I told everyone when I came on board that the public funds in the commission belong to Nigerians, no one should tamper with that money, including myself.

“If I’m corrupt, EFCC and ICPC are currently recovering billions of naira from my whistleblowing in the commission and I have never been indicted by the anti-corruption agencies.

“My ordeal as the Executive Secretary of NHIS may be connected with NHIS agents who think that I stepped on their toes and you know these people are powerful and they are well established in the previous administration.

“Those NHIS agents, I told them to pay back their debts which has already run to billions of naira. After initial investigation, I learnt that so many abnormalities need to be corrected,” a defiant Mr. Yusuf said.

Reacting to the stand off in the agency, the minister, Mr Adewole on Monday said he was awaiting briefing.

Premium Times

Featured

Shaibu Eats Humble Pie, Apologises to Obaseki, Says ‘I Missed My Gov’

Published

4 hours ago

September 22, 2023

Eric

Call it the eating of a humble pie, and you may not be wring as the embattled Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, apologised to Governor Godwin Obaseki amid a face-off between them.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Benin City, Mr Shaibu appealed to Governor Obaseki to forgive his “mistakes” for them to continue to work together, Channels TV reported.

“I use this medium to appeal to Mr Governor, if there is anything that I don’t know that I have done, please forgive me so that we can develop our state together,” he said.

“We have just one year to go. We have been the envy of the entire country. So, Mr Governor, if there is anything you feel that I have done, please I am sorry. I need us to work together to finish well and strong,” the deputy governor added.

When asked if he had resumed at his new office, Mr Shaibu said, “We have resumed but there is still a lot of work to be done there.

“There is no problem about it. The governor has asked us to go there. Like I have always tried to prove, I am a loyal servant and nothing has changed.

“I took a personal vow to support my governor and you can see my Catholic people are here. When I took a vow with God, nothing can change it and I wish that the relationship that we had will come back in the next few days and weeks.”

Mr Shaibu also said he has been missing the governor since their rift began, and expressed hope that God will “touch the governor’s heart” to forgive him.

“I mean well. If there is any mistake I have made as a human, it is not out of wickedness because I know I’m not wicked. I have a very clean heart.”

Featured

Tinubu Moves to Stop Release of Academic Records, Appeals US Court Judgement

Published

17 hours ago

September 21, 2023

Eric

President Bola Tinubu has appealed against the ruling of Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert, sitting at the United States’ District Court of Northern Illinois which ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to release all relevant records pertaining to him.

SaharaReporters had reported how the federal court in Chicago, while ruling on the civil case filed by Atiku Abubakar, on Tuesday granted the applicant’s request to the court, stating that former Nigeria’s vice-president had been able to sufficiently satisfy the purpose for seeking the records.

In the judgement documents seen by SaharaReporters on Wednesday, Judge Jeffrey Gilbert also ordered a deposition of designated CSU officials within two days after the records have been released, noting further that the process can be conducted during the weekend if necessary.

However, as the school prepared to surrender the papers, Tinubu filed an emergency motion in the district, requesting a higher judge to reconsider Mr Gilbert’s September 19 ruling and postpone the execution until at least September 25, according to People’s Gazette.

“Due to the timing for compliance by Chicago State University – later today – Intervenor is filing this motion separately from its challenge to the Magistrate’s ruling on the application,” Mr Tinubu’s lawyers, led by Christopher Carmichael, said. “Intervenor intends to file, by the end of the day, a substantive brief addressing the errors in the Magistrate’s decision.”

SaharaReporters

Featured

Boy Whose ‘Intestine Went Missing in Lagos Hospital’ Dies

Published

3 days ago

September 19, 2023

Eric

Twelve-year-old Adebola Akin-Bright, whose small intestine went missing during surgery in the hospital has died.

A close member of the family confirmed the tragedy to BBC News Pidgin, adding that Adebola suffered from internal bleeding.

He was subsequently rushed to the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) but he did not make it.

Adebola had been battling to survive after multiple surgeries were performed on him and it was confirmed that his small intestine was missing.

His mother, Abiodun Deborah had decried the non-intervention of the Lagos State Government, under the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Nigerian Medical Association in the mysterious disappearance of the small intestine of her 12-year-old son while receiving treatment at LASUTH.

Deborah who spoke to SaharaReporters earlier in September narrated how her son, Adebola, was referred to LASUTH from a private hospital, Obitoks Medical Centre situated at Ileepo in the Alimosho Local Government Area of the state on June 17 following a complication from surgery to correct intestinal obstruction.

According to the mother, her son was said to have a ruptured appendix and he had surgery at Obitoks Medical Centre in February 2023.

“After the surgery, he was fine until June when he kept saying he had pain in the stomach. This made us go back to the hospital and the doctor said he had intestinal obstruction and he underwent another surgery,” the mother told SaharaReporters.

She revealed further more than seven days after her son had the second surgery, they noticed that he was still draining bilious fluid.

“We went back to the private hospital and the Chief Medical Doctor told us the boy would undergo another surgery and it will be with the help of a professor from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH.

“This was why we decided to move to LASUTH since the professor is from there so that they can have total management,” she said.

She added the management of LASUTH told them the boy should not undergo another surgery immediately but they kept nursing him.

SaharaReporters