Complaints of financial impropriety and fraud against Usman Yusuf, the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), appear to have finally gotten the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) as both agencies launch investigations into allegations against the embattled NHIS boss.
The investigations are coming nearly six months after Yusuf was suspended over allegations of embezzling over N700 million.
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Yusuf was suspended on July 6 following three petitions, the third and most damning titled “The Monumental Fraud, Gross Abuse of Office and Nepotism Inimical to the Objective of the Scheme Happening in NHIS under the Leadership of Yusuf Usman” dated 21 April by the United Youth Alliance Against Corruption, accusing him of financial irregularities.
As BusinessDay previously reported, key issues raised in the petitions are with regards to unauthorised secondment into the scheme, incurring expenditure without due process, approvals above the threshold of the executive secretary, flagrant disrespect of due process in procurement matters, financial irregularities and award of contracts with impunity.
A panel was set up and found evidence of breaches to the procurement procedures hence the EFCC was tasked to recover part of the amount spent on the purported training.
The anti-corruption agency now appears to have finally decided to urgently swing into action as a December 21st, 2017 letter CR-3000/EFCC/ABJ/CTGI.2/VOL.15/237 signed by the director of operations of the commission, Mohammed Umar Abba on behalf of the acting chairman, addressed to NHIS requested for the necessary documents between July 2016 to July 2017 during the tenure of the suspended Executive Secretary.
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Part of the documents requested by the EFCC include Local and international training programmes sponsored by the scheme, payments made to Katamaya first call Hospital, procurement documents relating to the e-library project of the scheme, documents relating to the foreign trips and fuelling of the official vehicle of during his tenure
Other documents requested are NEEDS ASSESSMENT funds released from July 2016 to July 2017, all documents relating to the audit verification exercise conducted during the tenure of the suspended Executive Secretary.
The scheme is also to confirm if Nasir Shinkafi, Shuaibu Mohammed, Naima Suleiman Ilu and Yusuf Abdullahi are a staff of the NHIS and their current status
Earlier, the ICPC in a December 11 letter with ref number ICPC/SDD/TB/53/2017 and titled “Investigation Activities” Similarly requested in under section 45(3) of the cited act, directed the NHIS management to recover the money advanced to the five officers and two staff from the ministry of health for the aborted trip to the Netherlands.
January 6 will make it six months into the indefinite suspension of Usman Yusuf, a former executive secretary of the Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), even as previous reports had indicated he continued to enjoy the perks of office contrary to Nigerian Public Service rules on suspension.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
