NHIS boss, Yusuf breaks silence on suspension, fraud allegations

The suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance
Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, has said that the governing board of the
Scheme has no right to suspend him.

We recalls that chairman of the governing council, Enyatu Ifenne, on
Thursday last week suspended Yusuf indefinitely to allow a panel set
up by the council to investigate allegations of fraud and misconduct
against him.

However, the suspended NHIS executive Secretary stirred a protest on
Monday by some workers acting under the aegis of Association of Civil
Servants of Nigeria, and Medical and Health Workers Union of NHIS when
he showed up at the scheme's premises to resume office despite the
suspension.

But, on Tuesday, Yusuf, while speaking with BBC Hausa Service, said
the governing board had no right to suspend him especially because he
had notified the board that it lacked the constitutional right to
suspend him.

According to him, "The governing board has no right to suspend me as
the Executive Secretary. I notified them in a written document that
they lack constitutional rights to suspend or even block me from
entering my office.

On the allegation of fraud against him, Yusuf described them as false
and plots to intimidate him.

"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
unnecessary accusations of fraud.

"They're doing that just to intimidate and stop me from doing my good
work. They have failed, I will never succumb to their ploy, I think
they have to change plan.

"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 the initial investigation, I
learnt that so many abnormalities need to be corrected.