NHIS Scandal: Buhari sacrifices Usman for 2019

Professor Usman Yusuf, Executive Secretary, the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)

…He took on a powerful South West group and lost – Expert

By AYOOLA OLAOLUWA

After months of intrigues and politicking that trailed the corruption scandal at the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), everything came to a climax last Monday with the eventual suspension of the embattled Executive Secretary of the agency, Professor Usman Yusuf by President Muhammadu Buhari.

President Buhari, it was gathered, caved in to immense pressure from his party by ordering Prof. Yusuf to immediately proceed on administrative leave. The president gave the order in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Mr. Olusegun Adekunle.

The president further directed that Mr. Ben Omogo, Director, Administration Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (OHCSF), should oversee the affairs of the scheme. He said that the leave was to ensure unfettered investigation by the Independent Fact-Finding Panel which was inaugurated on Friday.

The panel, headed by Dr. Hassan Bukar, has Mrs. Jummai Idakwo, OSGF as the Secretary. Members are Dr. Emmanuel Meribole, Director, Federal Ministry of Health; Mr. Adewale Owolo, Director, Audit, Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAGF); Mr. Shamsuddeen Bello, Deputy Director, Expenditure, OAGF.

Other members are Mr. Ishaq Yahaya, Director, Certification & Compliance, Bureau of Public Procurement and Dr Ekanem John Udoh, Director, Science, Federal Ministry of Science and Technology.

One of the terms of reference (TOR) of the panel are to investigate the alleged infractions listed by the NHIS Governing Council in its letter dated October 18, 2018 and determine the extent of culpability or otherwise of the ES with regards to the allegations.

The final capitulation of the president to suspend Yusuf came barely a week after the embattled NHIS boss was suspended by the governing council of the NHIS, but was shockingly reinstated and escorted into office by a retinue of armed security agents made up of policemen and Department of States (DSS) operatives on the orders of the presidency.

Not waiting for the outcome of the Federal Government’s investigative panel into corruption allegations against Yusuf, the House of Representatives set up its own ad-hoc committee to investigate the crisis and operations of the NHIS.

Shocking revelations have continued to emerge from the House of Representatives investigation, further exposing the can of worms at the crisis ridden health agency. While appearing before the committee, Yusuf admitted that a company owned by his brother won N46million contract in 2016. His brother’s name is Mohammed Kabir-Yar’Adua.

Yusuf, while being crossed-examined over an allegation made by NHIS workers’ unions that he awarded contracts in excess of N508m “without due process,” told the committee, which is chaired by Mr. Nicholas Ossai, that his brother is a Nigerian, and his company won the contract after open, public bidding. He denied influencing the award of the contract, adding that he also did not know at the time that the firm applied for the contract.

Meanwhile, information available to Business Hallmark revealed that Yusuf was suspended in order to save the re-election bid of President Buhari. A source in the Presidency revealed that a powerful cabal in the presidency, made up of top aides and associates, convinced the president to sacrifice Yusuf to save his own government.

“Though, most Nigerians are not aware of it, the scandal at the NHIS has done more damage to the president than any other one. In fact, it is a stubborn bone in the neck of the president that has refused to go away. The problem is worsened by the involvement of aggrieved powerful forces in the South West in the whole saga.

“As you know, the health sector, apart from the involvement of few stakeholders from India, Turkey and the Middle East, is largely control by the South West. Virtually all the biggest hospitals and complementary health institutions are owned and controlled by well connected South Westerners.

“So, you can’t move against the system without stepping on shoes. I am not saying that Yusuf is clean, but by taking on a powerful group, the war was taken to him. They are leaving no stone unturned in order to expose and ridicule him as also being corrupt. The supervising ministry of health that should have shielded him from attacks is also manned by a South Westerner who is not also in love with him.

“He has chewed more than he can swallow. I assure you that his problems are not going away soon. The man is doomed and may drag down the president if care is not taken. That was why he was sacrificed to save face”, the source who did not want his identity disclosed.

BH reliably gathered that though, some powerful people close to the president are not happy with Yusuf’s travails and believe his problems are ethnic and political motivated; they nevertheless have no option but to distance the present administration from him.

“They (Presidency) have tried enough by standing by him all these while. But he took on a tribe that is too powerful and never forgives a slight, no matter how small. The same thing happened to the suspended SEC Director General, Munir Gwarzo who took on a company owned by interests in the South West. And you know how he (Gwarzo) ended?

“If not handled well, apart from the NHIS saga damaging the reputation of the president and his anti-corruption fight, he can’t hold on to Yusuf without offending powerful interests from the zone (South West) who are gunning for Yusuf jugular. It is either Yusuf goes, or the president loses the support of a powerful block.

“Unfortunately, Yusuf is too insignificant in the power loop. He must be sacrificed for peace to reign. As long as he forcefully perpetrated in office, the problem will not go away. Who is talking again of Gwarzo and the Oando crisis? I think that is what the presidency plans to do. Simple damage control”, said a serving deputy director in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

Before last week’s suspension of the NHIS boss by the presidency, his reinstatements had raised a lot of dust, prompting knocks and condemnations from concerned Nigerians who queried the sincerity of the Federal Government’s anti-corruption war.

Labour, civil society organizations, legal practitioners and opposition parties, while kicking against Yusuf’s recall, condemned President Buhari’s involvement, citing it as example of his penchant for nepotism, favouritism, clannishness and a dent on the government’s anti-corruption war.

Ever since the government of President Buhari assumed power on May 29, 2015, there has been much hype about anti-corruption fight in the country and how the ‘Change’administration intends to wipe out the evil across the land.

The president, who prides himself as an indefatigable corruption fighter has repeatedly vowed to stamp out corruption from the shores of Nigeria. While speaking at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, popularly called Chatham House, London, on Thursday, February 26, 2015, just days before his election, Buhari affirmed his stand on corruption.

“On corruption, there will be no confusion as to where I stand. Corruption will have no place and the corrupt will not be appointed into my administration”, he had vowed.

Even after attaining power, the rhetoric, ‘Corruption will have no place during my time’, has not changed. If the president’s good intentions would solve all the nation’s problems then all would be well for the country. But as they say, “If wishes were horses then beggars would ride”.

The harsh realities of things today are painful as corruption is endemic and is gnawing away at the fabrics of the nation.

Barely three and half years into the tenure of the new administration, there is an albatross on the president’s neck. Several people around him, both in and outside government, particularly from his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), are currently enmeshed in corruption scandals. They have in fact become the president’s poster boys for corruption in high places.

A glaring case of this is the corruption scandal tearing the NHIS apart. The lead character in the scandal is no other person than a kinsman of the President, the suspended Executive Secretary NHIS Prof. UsmanYusuf. He is also from Katsina as the president.

Yusuf was on October 19, 2018 suspended from office by the NHIS governing council led by Dr. Ifene Enyantu over allegations of corruption against him. He was accused of illegally executing N30 billion investments in FGN bonds, fraudulent inflation of the cost of biometric capturing machines and unlawful staff postings among others. The indefinite suspension would allow a panel freedom to investigate petitions and allegations against the secretary and submit a report in three months.

But in a dramatic twist, the embattled Yusuf, with the help of over 50 armed policemen and DSS operatives, resumed work on October 22, in defiance of a directive by the agency’s governing council. Yusuf, accompanied by the heavily armed operatives, arrived at the premises, broke open the barred gates by the workers and walked into his office.

The workers, who earlier vowed they would resist the move, had turned out in large numbers, locking the gate to the premises. But they were no match for the armed officers, who cleared the way, deploying teargas canisters in the process. Helpless, the workers resorted to shouting: “Shame! Shame! Shame! You are not even bold enough to walk on your own! Why should you be assisted by the police?”

In a very questionable manner, the Buhari government, which pride itself as having zero tolerance for corruption came to the defence of the embattled Yusuf. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who spoke for the president, said it was unfortunate that the NHIS crisis had assumed an ethnic and political dimension.

“I will tell you one thing. You know that whatever the mistakes this gentleman may have made, they have to be proved. He has launched a major reform in that institution which had blocked access to public resources.

“If we have been enlisted, we are supposed to get treatment when we fall ill. In 13 years of the NHIS, how many Nigerians have received treatment?

“Yet, you have HMOs taking N5bn every month, money that is just being shared and somebody came and said, ‘Look, this can’t go on’ and with strong support from this administration, the N5bn has been reduced to N1.3bn,” Shehu had said.

That was not the first time that Yusuf’s integrity as the chief custodian of the nation’s health insurance health scheme would come under corruption allegations. Before the governing council’s sanction, theMinister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who oversees Yusuf’s agency had last year suspended him over an alleged N919 million fraud.

Yusuf ran into trouble after a petition by a group to the Presidency and Federal Ministry of Health raised 12 allegations of misdeed and fraudulent practice against him.The allegations ranged from misappropriation of funds, nepotism, misconduct, flagrant disregard for superior authority and use of inappropriate words on a senior officer.

The NHIS boss was specifically accused of mismanaging N860 million budgeted by the agency for training in 2016, flagrant disrespect for rules in the award of contracts for the supply of e-library equipment, award of media consultancy to his brother, and the payment of funds to contractors before supply of goods in connivance with the heads of finance and audit at the agency.

Other allegations against him include incurring expenditure above the N2.5 million threshold of the ES without approval of the health ministry, encouragement of the supply of fake products and substandard goods to the agency, inflation of cost of contract by over 100 percent, dropping of the name of President Buhari for disobedience of the Minister of Health, fraudulent practice in the selection of insurance brokers for the scheme and collection of a flat rate of N7.2 million for registration of health management organisations, HMOs.

Yusuf was also alleged to have flouted the rules in granting financial assistance to a person who did not enroll in the NHIS, while denying such assistance to a staff of the scheme who eventually died. He was also accused of approving N210 million for electronic media operations without recourse to laid down procedure.

The minister of health was directed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, then acting president and the Head of Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita, to issue him a query and also constitute a panel to investigate the allegations. The minister later suspended the NHIS boss and set up the investigative panel in line with Public Service Rule No 030406 to allow for uninterrupted administrative investigation because he was not satisfied by the response of the ES to the query.

The 13-member Panel of Inquiry set up by the minister established that N860 million was fraudulently used for training of staff without due process. It also found that the actual amount spent under Mr. Yusuf on training was N919, 644,800.00. It was, however, noted that the entire processes and Yusuf’s actions involving all foreign trips, engagement of consultants and documentation of the payment process for the training, involving N508, 036,096.00, were devoid of due process. Therefore, the panel recommended that that sum should be recovered from the training consultants by the NHIS.

The panel also uncovered manipulation of names in the number of staff trained and number of staff on the nominal roll. It discovered that some staff who did not attend training were paid both course fee and staff allowances allocated for training.

It noted that the number of staff of the agency was 1,360 as indicated in its nominal roll. However, the number of staff trained by the scheme based on analysis of payment vouchers was 1,992, while the figure submitted by NHIS was 2,023 within three months. (October to December, 2016).

According to the panel, the Procurement Department of NHIS was not involved in the engagement of consultants for all the training programmes as the transactions were basically between the NHIS boss and the Human Resources Department, in contravention of the standard procurement process.

The panel also found that some consultants were directed to remit part of their fees into a private account as kickbacks. For instance, GK Kanki Foundation was reportedly directed by the Assistant General Manager (Insurance) at the NHIS, Vincent Mamdam, to pay N2.8m into a Skye Bank account with number 1040569204 belonging to one MagajiGarba.

“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 committee revealed.

The committee also noted that funds were diverted through local and foreign trips in form of estacode per day and per diem allowance for NHIS staff, which were in contravention of extant rules.

After its investigations, the committee made 17 recommendations to government.It noted that Yusuf did not carry out his statutory function as an accounting officer, pursuant to section 20(1) and (2) (a-g) of PPA 2007 and recommended that he should be held responsible for all infractions observed in the procurement process of the agency for the period under review and should be sanctioned accordingly.

The committee said as the head of the agency, Yusuf was personally responsible for all administrative, procurement and financial lapses.Aside recommending that some amounts be refunded to the agency, the panel asked that Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) be empowered to recover N48, 378,800 paid to Katamaye Firstcall Hospital for the treatment of three cancer patients. Yusuf also approved the payment, although it is above his approval threshold.

It would be recalled that the treatment of the cancer patients had generated controversy in the agency as a N16, 220,600.00 was released to treat each of them, although only one of them was an enrollee of the scheme.The enrollee was a patient referred to NHIS by Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, but was eventually treated by Katamaye Firstcall Hospital, an hospital not accredited by the NHIS.The panel noted that the hospital after collecting the money, in turned paid to Belam medicals.

On the foreign trip and training of staff by the agency, the committee noted some discrepancies in the activities and nominal roll.The committee further recommended to government to carry out a comprehensive staff audit and streamline the bureaucratic setup of the scheme so that it can pursue the health goal it was established for.

On these two occasions that Yusuf was suspended, he was insolent. He refused to vacate his office. He countered his accusers that it was only the president who could suspend or sack him.

However, he was recalled by President Muhammadu Buhari in February 2018, with investigations still pending, an action that drew widespread condemnation. Curiously, the president ordered the reinstatement of Yusuf while none of the other eight senior officers suspended along with him was recalled.

Enraged by the bias handling of Yusuf’s case by the Federal Government, Nigerians who spoke with BH condemned the presidency, querying her decision to keep the embattled NHIS boss in office, despite incontrovertible evidences of fraud against him.

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), while speaking with our correspondent, demanded for the sack of the Prof. Yusuf in order to save the nation the embarrassment his perpetuation will bring.

The Vice Chairman of the NHIS chapter of the association, Comrade Isaac Ojemhenke, argued that Yusuf’s removal was necessary to avoid sending the wrong signals in respect of the anti-graft war of the federal government.

“In view of the foregoing, the association is demanding that government should do the needful as regards the case of Prof. Usman Yusuf. He needs to be asked to step aside in order to serve as deterrent to others. This is very necessary in order to avoid sending the wrong signal in respect of the anti-corruption war of the present administration,” Ojemhenke said.

A public analyst, Mr. Tajudeen Tijani, said the decision of President Buhari to use presidential orders to reinstate Yusuf to his former post is a great indictment on his government.

“Many of us are aghast that President Buhari, whose antecedents we have followed for over forty years as a patriot and nationalist, has suddenly changed to a tribal champion. Many things have taken place under this administration that one wonders whether the retired general, who we all placed our hope on for a better future for this nation, is the same person whom the whole Nigerians beckoned at in 2015 to come and lead us from an inept government”, Tijani lamented.

Some prominent lawyers also criticised Federal Government for the violent manner the the suspended NHIS boss was reinstated. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Mike Ozekhome, described the reinstatement of Yusuf, as evidence of impunity, corruption and executive lawlessness under President Buhari administration.

He maintained that the directive, reinstating the NHIS boss, showed that the administration was not only covering up corruption within the government, but also promoting and protecting it.

“It amounts to clear evidence of the reign of impunity, corruption and executive lawlessness”, he said.

Also, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), berated President Buhari’s war against corruption and the government’s motives.

“It is a total disgrace and an embarrassment. If I were the minister of health and the NHIS board, I would resign and give them back their useless positions. The President has undermined his so-called war on corruption for whatever reason, and it does him no credit that he is doing this.

“A man under his watch is accused of corruption and is being probed, and you reinstated him twice? That he (Buhari) would do this kind of thing no longer shocks me,” the lawyer said.

Reacting, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) tasked President Buhari to speak up on why he has been protective of the NHIS executive secretary. The party said with the “forceful repression” of NHIS workers by security operatives, it has become clear that a cabal in the presidency is directly complicit in the NHIS fraud and is seeking every means to ensure a cover up.

In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party expressed worry over what it called the deliberate cover up and protection of a man alleged to have soiled his hands.

“Why is the Presidency protecting an official of government openly indicted for corruption? What is the Presidency trying to conceal by ensuring that Professor Yusuf remains the Executive Secretary after his indictment?

“Why is the Presidency vehemently opposed to any form of investigation on the activities of NHIS under Yusuf? Is it true that there are fears in the Presidency that an investigation will expose the alleged involvement of individuals close to the President in the reported fraud in the scheme?” the party asked.

While the PDP described as reprehensible that an administration which prides itself as fighting corruption will continue to provide official cover for its officials indicted of corruption, the party urged Nigerians to continue to hold President Buhari responsible for the corruption in NHIS, as well as the siphoning of trillions of naira from various agencies, under his watch.”