Organised labour has faulted the reinstatement of Usman Yusuf, the executive secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Yusuf was suspended by Isaac Adewole, minister of health, in June 2017, following allegations of gross misconduct and fraud to the tune of N919 million.
The recalled NHIS boss was still being investigated by the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) when his reinstatement letter was sent to the federal ministry of health on Tuesday. The letter with reference number, ‘SH/COS/10/6/A/29’ was signed by Abba Kyari, the chief of staff to President Buhari.
Labour under the auspices of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) in a statement, Wednesday, signed by Bashir Lawal, the secretary general, condemned Yusuf’s recall, stating that “it is another dent on Buhari’s anti-corruption war.”
According to labour, the action is capable of being interpreted to mean that the government anti-graft war “is selective and designed to deal with specific targets.”
It queried: “How can a government official being investigated for a whopping sum of N919 million fraud by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) be reinstated by the government that came to power promising to sanitise the system?
Labour said that the reinstatement also lent credence to the “arrogant public statements several times by Yusuf that he could not report to the minister of health since he dealt directly with Mr. President”.
JOSHUA BASSEY
