FG Extends NHIS Executive Secretary’s Suspension Infinitum

BY AMOS DUNIA, ABUJA – The Federal Government has announced the extension of the suspension from office of the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf.
In a letter dated 6th October 2017 with reference number HMH/ABJ/032/Vol.XII/29 with the title; “RE: SUSPENSION FROM OFFICE: EXTENSION OF SUSPENSION” and signed by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac F. Adewale, the embattled boss of the NHIS is now to remain suspended pending the decision of the President Muhammadu Buhari on the report of the administrative investigation committee that looked into the various allegations of monumental fraud, gross abuse of office and nepotism inimical to the objective of the NHIS Scheme under his leadership.
The Minister of Health stated in the letter that the Administrative Investigative Committee to looked into the activities of the NHIS under Prof Yusuf has since submitted its report which has been forwarded to the President for further actions.
Prof Adewale further said; “While awaiting Mr. President’s directives and considering that the committee found you culpable in many areas of your performance as the Executive Secretaryof the Scheme, I am further extending your suspension from office, pending the decision of His Excellency, Mr. President C-in-C on the report.”
THE REPORT THAT NAILED PROF YUSUF
The Administrative Committee that was set up by the Federal Ministry of Health to investigate the activities of the suspended Executive Secretary of NHIS, Prof. Usman Yusuf, and other activities of the Scheme The panel described him as a public servant who “portrayed a holier-than-thou attitude but at the background, milked the Scheme dry” by conniving with others to perpetrate fraud to the tune of over N919m.
The committee pointedly said that the N919 million was dubiously paid to consultants for staff training just as it discovered that Prof Yusuf was personally responsible for all the administrative, procurement and financial lapses.
The committee report further stated that Yusuf’s deceitful attitude coupled with ‘name-dropping’ of Mr. President as having sent him to sanitise the NHIS did so much damage to the scheme and therefore recommended that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) should further probe the agency over diversion of funds and contravention of the Procurement Act of 2007.
The embattled Yusuf was also found by the committee to have contravened the act setting up the Scheme through nepotism and other irregular awards of contracts and should therefore be sanctioned in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
Specifically, the Committee noted that in some instances, the number of trainees was far more than the entire number of staff of the Scheme while in some other instances, some employees were registered for the same training in two different states at the same time while the consultants allegedly charged about N250,000 per participant.
Part of the report read; “The total number of staff at the NHIS is 1,360. The total number of staff trained by the scheme based on analysis of payment vouchers on training was 1,992, while the figure submitted by the NHIS was 2,023 within three months (October-December 2016).
“The difference between the number of staff trained and the number of staff on the nominal roll was as a result of manipulation of names. It was discovered that some staff did not attend (training) but payments were made for both course fee and staff allowances.”
The Committee’s investigation revealed that some of the consultants were directed to remit part of their fees into a specified private account as kickbacks.
“The total course fees paid to the training firms was N508, 036, 096 while staff allowances for all the training was N411, 608, 704 totalling N919, 644, 800.”
“The Procurement department of the NHIS was not involved in the engagement of consultants for all the training programmes as the transactions were basically between the suspended Executive Secretary, Prof Yusuf and the Human Resources Department in contravention of the standard procurement process.
“Huge sums of money were also diverted through local and foreign trips taken by NHIS employees. The estacode per day and per diem allowance for NHIS staff were in contravention of extant rules.
“The NHIS boss received $900 estacode (for foreign trips) and N50,000 per diem for local trips. Certain trips which were fully sponsored by companies or hospitals, Prof Yusuf still went ahead to receive estacode and per diem allowances.”
Worse still, the suspended NHIS Executive Secretary was found by the committee to have paid allowances and salaries to persons who were not employees of the NHIS and therefore directed Prof Yusuf and other staff who committed such infractions to refund N82m in travel allowances.
“The committee found that the total amount spent on the training was N919, 644, 800. The entire process and his actions involving all the foreign trips, engagement of training consultants and documentation of their payment processes amounting to N508, 036, 096 were devoid of due process. Therefore, the sum of N508, 036, 096 should be recovered from the training consultants by the NHIS,” the committee recommended.