The Presidential Independent Fact-finding Panel to
probe the allegation of fraud against the suspended the Executive Secretary of
National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Dr. Usman Yusuf, has submitted its
report to the federal government.
The panel headed by Dr. Bukar Hassan, a retired
Permanent Secretary, submitted the report on Monday to the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha.
The report comprises six annexures and a main
summary of the findings. It was submitted almost two months after the panel was
inaugurated.
Hassan disclosed that in the course of the
investigation, the panel interfaced key stakeholders, including the Minister of
Health, Dr. Isaac Adewole; Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Health, Abdulaziz
Mashi Abdulahi; the suspended Executive Secretary NHIS, the management team of
the scheme, the union leaders and the staff among others.
He also added that the panel constituted sub teams
to examine the alleged infractions against Yusuf as they related to
administration, financial management and procurements, while the sub-teams also
reviewed memoranda and presentations received from stakeholders.
President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the
establishment of the panel into the NHIS crisis after due consultation. Yusuf
was suspended on November 1, 2018, while the Director of Administration in the
Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Ben Omogo, was
deployed to oversee the affairs of the scheme.
The panel was tasked to investigate the alleged
infractions listed by the NHIS Governing Council in a letter dated October 18,
2018, and determine the extent of culpability or otherwise of Yusuf with
regards to the allegations.
After receiving the report, Mustapha assured the
panel that it would be expeditiously processed for implementation while the
decision of the federal government on the panel recommendations would be made
public at the appropriate time.
He regretted that in spite of government intention
to ensure harmonious working relationship between governing boards and managements
of parastatals, it continued to observe the eruption of different scales of
skirmishes from board rooms into public domain.
“In order to bring board members and their chief
executives up to speed on current government policies and programmes as well as
legislations guiding ways of conducting government business, broad-based
induction courses were organised and over 60 agencies in four batches benefited
from such induction courses. The NHIS was in the first batch of the induction
course,” Mustapha disclosed.
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