- The ASCSN pointed out that the NHIS’s Governing Council had suspended Yusuf last week, for alleged financial scams
- The association urged the president to terminate Yusuf’s appointment immediately, in order to restore sanity to the National Health Insurance Scheme and prove that he is not backing impunity
Organised labour under the auspices of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the embattled executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof Usman Yusuf.
The association made the call in a press statement issued by its secretary general, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, on Wednesday, October 24, Tribune reports.
The ASCSN expressed worry that the wrong message could be sent to the outside world, that those close to president could engage in any manner of impunity without repercussions; considering the manner in which Yusuf bull-dozed his way to resume office with armed security details after he was suspended by the Governing Council of the scheme for financial impropriety.
The union stated: “Professor Yusuf may think that his primordial affinity with the president, because they hail from Katsina state, is a license for him to be lawless.”
The ASCSN pointed out that the NHIS’s Governing Council had suspended Yusuf last week, for alleged financial scams including carting away NHIS office
equipments to his residence, padding of the budget of the scheme, an attempt to illegally invest N30 billion in FGN bonds, and placing his relatives in strategic offices for purposes of siphoning funds through dubious contract awards.
The association also pointed out other alleged wrongdoings including insubordination and contempt for the minister of health and members of the
Governing Council of the scheme, punitive posting out of union officials from the NHIS headquarters to create fertile grounds for his financial malpractices, and alleged inflation of biometric capturing machines. It recalled that the health minister, Professor Isaac
Adewole, had suspended Yusuf in 2017, after an administrative panel of enquiry found him guilty of fraud; only for him to be reinstated by President Buhari.
The association urged the president to terminate Yusuf’s appointment immediately, not only to prove that he is not backing Yusuf’s penchant for questionable transactions, but more importantly, to restore sanity to the National Health Insurance Scheme in the interest of the Nigerian project.
Meanwhile, over 50 policemen broke the gates to the headquarters of the National Health Insurance Scheme to escort the
suspended executive secretary, Professor Usman Yusuf, into the premises.
The policemen fired tear gas to disperse members of staff who had attempted to prevent Usman from gaining entry.
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