The house of Representatives on Thursday approved the sum of N70.672 billion budget for Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC),
From the sum, N22.211 billion is for recurrent expenditure; N15.651 billion is for capital expenditure; N6.558 is for special projects; N8.584 billion is to be transferred to Universal Service Fund while N17.668 billion is to be transferred to Federal Government of Nigeria.
The approval process was given after the adoption of the recommendations of the House Committee on Telecommunication, chaired by Saheed Fijabi.
Meanwhile, the House resolved to step down the motion which seeks to investigate the payment of N351 billion paid to Health Management Organisations (HMOs) through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).
The motion listed as matters of urgent public importance on the Order Paper, sponsored by Chike Okafor, was however stepped down till the next legislative day.
Okafor who urged the House to prevail on National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to postpone further releases to the health organisations pending the outcome of the investigation, argued that “Nigerian workers have been greatly short-changed and converted to conduit pipe for revenue to the HMOs and the healthcare providers as enrolees are reduced and treated like leprous people while trying to access the services of the scheme.
“Many strategies have been alleged to have been adopted by the healthcare providers and the HMOs to deprive the enrolled their right to quality treatment and attention.
“The House is concerned that the beneficiaries, enrollees, the Nigerian people, electorates are the main reason for the establishment of the scheme but have been denied the services as provided in the benefit package of the scheme.
“It is on record that the HMOs have received over N351 billion from the scheme since inception in 2005 till date, and it is regrettable to see that the said amount covers less than four percent of Nigerians which is the current coverage by the scheme,” Okafor decried.
He explained that over 116 petitions were sent to his office by aggrieved Nigerians over the inhuman treatment of NHIS enrollees by the HMOs and other health care providers, who asked for “legislative intervention and protection from the hands of the HMOs and the health care providers who have remained adamant to their various appeals.”
According to him, “Federal Government pays 3.5 percent while the employee pays 1.7 percent amounting to 5.25 percent of the monthly salary of the Federal Government worker, while the state government, local government and organised private sector employers pay 10 percent and the employees pay 5 percent amount to the 15 percent of thier monthly salary,” Okafor said.
“These monies are deducted directly from thier salaries and they do not have control over it, even when the service for which these premium deduction are made, are not satisfactorily rendered.
“The HMO’s are paid three months upfront by the scheme to enable them provide timely, standard and quality health care services to the enrolless, through time and regular payment to the health care providers, but reverse is better imagined,” he said.
In the recommendation, Okafor urged the House to probe the activities of the HMOs and other healthcare providers in that last eight years with a view to identifying their level of compliance to the relevant provisions of the NHIS Act and the issues behind the poor state of the service to the enrollees and report back to the House within four weeks.
