The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, on Friday announced the suspension of the Chief Executive Officer and Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, for three months. In a statement signed by the Director of Media and Public Relations at the Ministry of Health, Mrs. Boade Akinola, the minister said the suspension was due to a series of petitions written against Yusuf.
The statement read in part, “The Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has directed the Executive Secretary / Chief Executive Officer of National Health Insurance Scheme, Prof. Usman Yusuf, to proceed on three months suspension with immediate effect.
“According to the directive, the suspension was a result of various allegations and petitions against him. The minister also said he had directed the setting up of an investigative committee to look into the various allegations in accordance with the public service rules.
“The suspension became necessary to allow for an uninterrupted investigation. Prof. Usman Yusuf was, however, directed to hand over to the next most senior general manager in the agency.”
The minister advised members of staff of the agency to be law-abiding, vigilant and safeguard all government properties including valuable documents.
However, the minister’s order seems to already have been flouted as the suspended NHIS boss reportedly left the premises with two matted woven bags otherwise known as ‘Ghana must go’ bags with unknown contents.
The suspended NHIS boss, whose appointment was allegedly influenced by power forces in the corridor of power, was also said to have committed several acts of insubordination against the health minister.
A member of the Medical and Health Workers Union, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Yusuf’s attitude had seriously affected the success of the NHIS as he had fought with Health Maintenance Organizations.
The unionist said, “The suspended NHIS boss bought a sport utility vehicle of N58m a few weeks ago without the permission of the minister. Ordinarily, he has no right to make a transaction of over N2.5m without the permission of the ministry since the NHIS has no board.
“He victimized many members of the union and even frustrated the NHIS. Ideally, HMOs are supposed to be paid three months in advance so that they can pay hospitals on time but he was paying HMOs one month in advance.”
However, the suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, Usman Yusuf, failed to formally hand over, as he did not turn up at the office. He had been directed by the Nigerian government to transfer his authority to the most senior officer in the agency, Attahiru Ibrahim.
There had been rumours following his suspension that Mr. Yusuf would defy the directive of the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole. Mr. Yusuf had denied being aware of his suspension from office, maintaining that he remained the Executive Secretary.
“Who told you I have been suspended or that I did any sharp practices? The person should come forward with proofs,” Mr. Yusuf had queried when this newspaper reached him for comments about his suspension. The suspension came weeks after the Senate launched investigations into his activities as the NHIS chief. The lawmakers accused Mr. Yusuf of “corrupt expenditure of N292 million” which he allegedly spent on health care training “without recourse to any appropriate approving authority.”
The Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, has told the Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole that he is not proceeding on suspension as directed by the minister. Yusuf said the minister lacks the power to discipline him and that only the President “by virtue of the NHIS Act particularly section 4 and 8 thereof” can remove him from office “whether by way of suspension or otherwise.”
The minister had, through a July 6, 2017 memo, asked the NHIS chief to proceed on a three- month suspension to allow for an uninterrupted investigation of petitions against him in accordance with Public Service Rules.
But Yusuf, responding in a letter dated July 12,2017 said : “Except removed from office by the President under circumstances specified in the NHIS Act, my appointment is for a period of five (5) years subject to further term of the same period at the discretion of the President.”
He said that although section 47 of the NHIS Act empowers the minister to “give directives of a general nature to the Governing Council of the Scheme and in the absence of the Council, you have Presidential mandate to exercise the powers and functions of the council. The powers and functions of the Council do not include discipline, suspension or removal of the Executive Secretary of the Scheme from office.”
Besides, he said the suspension letter “is not in accordance with Public Service Rules as no prima facie case has been established against me in respect of the petition referred to in the letter.
“The mere fact that there are pending petitions against a public officer which is yet to be substantiated does not constitute a ground for suspension under the Public Service Rules. Otherwise, with over 18,000 petitions pending against public officer holders before the EFCC and ICPC as at the end of June 2017, the total number of public officers who would have been on suspension by now including honourable ministers is left to be imagined.
“As you are aware, the petitions referred to in your letter are currently being investigated by the ICPC which is yet to submit its report. In view of the criminal nature of most of the allegations in the petitions, security/investigative agencies like ICPC are the appropriate agencies for investigation contemplated in your letter; not a Ministerial Committee. I have cooperated fully with the investigations so far and will continue to do so,” he added. He asked the minister to allow
“investigations of these petitions to follow due process.”
But in a swift response, spokesperson for the ministry, Boade Akinola, said Yusuf, being a public officer, is bound by the regulations governing the Public Service.
Akinola, in a statement said: “The NHIS is an agency supervised by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Administrative Panel of Inquiry raised by the ministry to investigate activities of the agency has commenced its assignment with specific terms of reference.”
According to the statement signed by the health ministry’s spokesperson, Boade Akinola, Mr. Yusuf, being a public officer, is bound by the regulations governing the Public Service“
The NHIS is an agency supervised by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Administrative Panel of Inquiry raised by the Ministry to investigate activities of the agency has commenced its assignment with specific terms of reference,” the spokesperson said. Mr. Yusuf was suspended by the minister for three months to allow for unhindered investigations into corruption allegations leveled against him. His response to his July 6 suspension was sent same day the House of Representatives ordered his reinstatement, a directive that is not binding on the health ministry. The lawmakers’ position has been condemned by a civil society group who said the resolution was one which encouraged corruption.
President Buhari’s speech at Anti-Corruption Summit In London said that, Tackling the menace of corruption is not an easy task, but it is possible even if many feathers have to be ruffled. Our Government’s dogged commitment to tackling corruption is also evident in the freedom and support granted to national anti-corruption agencies to enable them to carry out their respective mandates without interference or hindrance from any quarter including the government. Today, our frontline anti-corruption agencies, namely, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), have become revitalised and more proactive in the pursuit of perpetrators of corrupt practices, irrespective of their social status and political persuasion.
This is a radical departure from the past. We have implemented the Treasury Single Account (TSA) whereby all Federal government revenue goes into one account.
This measure would make it impossible for public officers to divert public funds to private accounts as was the practice before. Through the effective application of TSA and the Bank Verification Number (BVN), we have been able to remove 23,000 ghost workers from our pay roll, thereby saving billions that would have been stolen. We are also reviewing our anti-corruption laws and have developed a national anti-corruption strategy document that will guide our policies in the next three years, and possibly beyond.
I am not unaware of the challenges of fighting corruption in a manner consistent with respect for human rights and the rule of law. As a country that came out of prolonged military rule only sixteen years ago, it will clearly take time to change the mentality and psychology of law enforcement officers. I am committed to applying the rule of law and to respecting human rights.
I also require our security agencies to do the same. I admit that there are a few cases where apparently stringent rules have been applied as a result of threats to national security and the likelihood that certain persons may escape from the country or seek to undermine the stability of Nigeria. It is for this reason that we are seeking the support of many countries for the prosecution of certain individuals residing in their jurisdictions. Of course we will provide the necessary legal documents and whatever mutual assistance is required to secure conviction of such individuals, as well as facilitate the repatriation of our stolen assets.
Unfortunately, our experience has been that repatriation of corrupt proceeds is very tedious, time consuming, costly and entails more than just the signing of bilateral or multilateral agreements. This should not be the case as there are provisions in the appropriate United Nations Convention that require countries to return assets to countries from where it is proven that they were illegitimately acquired. Further, we are favourably disposed to forging strategic partnerships with governments, civil society organizations, organized private sector and international organizations to combat corruption. Our sad national experience had been that domestic perpetrators of corrupt practices do often work hand-in-hand with international criminal cartels. This evil practice is manifested in the plundering and stealing of public funds, which are then transferred abroad into secret accounts.
I therefore, call for the establishment of an international anti-corruption infrastructure that will monitor, trace and facilitate the return of such assets to their countries of origin. It is important to stress that the repatriation of identified stolen funds should be done without delay or preconditions.
In addition to the looting of public funds, Nigeria is also confronted with illegal activities in the oil sector, the mainstay of our export economy. That this industry has been enmeshed in corruption with the participation of the staff of some of the oil companies is well established. Their participation enabled oil theft to take place on a massive scale.
Some of us in this hall may be familiar with the Report released by Chatham House, here in London, in 2013, titled “Nigeria’s Criminal Crude: International Options to Combat the Export of Stolen Oil.” The important findings of the Chatham House document are illuminating and troubling. Part of the Report concluded that: a) Nigerian crude oil is being stolen on an industrial scale and exported, with the proceeds laundered through world financial centres by transnational organized criminals. b) Oil theft is a species of organized crime that is almost totally off the international community’s radar, as Nigeria’s trade and diplomatic partners have taken no real action. c) Nigeria could not stop the trade single-handedly, and there is limited value in countries going it alone.
It is clear therefore, that the menace of oil theft, put at over 150,000 barrels per day, is a criminal enterprise involving internal and external perpetrators. Illicit oil cargoes and their proceeds move across international borders. Opaque and murky as these illegal transactions may be, they are certainly traceable and can be acted upon, if all governments show the required political will. This will has been the missing link in the international efforts hitherto. Now in London, we can turn a new page by creating a multi-state and multi-stakeholder partnership to address this menace. We, therefore, call on the international community to designate oil theft as an international crime similar to the trade in “blood diamonds”, as it constitutes an imminent and credible threat to the economy and stability of oil-producing countries like Nigeria. The critical stakeholders here present can lead the charge in this regard.
FUNDAMENTAL OBJECTIVES AND DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY as contained in the 1999 constitution stipulates in the following sections that:
(13) It shall be the duty and responsibility of all organs of government, and of all authorities and persons, exercising legislative, executive or judicial powers, to conform to, observe and apply the provisions of this Chapter of this Constitution.
(14) (1) The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice.
(2) It is hereby, accordingly, declared that:
(a) Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority;
(b) The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government: and
(c) The participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
From this, we see that it is expressly stated in our Constitution that the Government(s) is ultimately responsible for the security of lives, property, etc of the people of Nigeria. Internal security, or IS, is the act of keeping peace within the borders of a sovereign state or other self-governing territories. This is done generally by upholding the national law and defending against internal security threats. Responsibility for internal security may range from police to paramilitary forces, and in exceptional circumstances, the military itself.
Systemic and Political Corruption: This is a twin evil and hydra-headed monster that has held the Nigerian state captive. This has contributed to government failure and breakdown of institutional infrastructures. The state of insecurity in Nigeria is greatly a function of government failure, traceable to systemic and political corruption. It has added another dimension of violent conflicts which has eroded national values. Corruption is bad not because money and benefits change hands, and not because of the motives of participants, but because it privatizes valuable aspects of public life, bypassing processes of representation, debate, and choice. It has been described as cancer militating against Nigeria’s development, because corruption deeply threatens the fabric of the Nigeria society. Corruption hampers economic growth, disproportionately burdens the poor and undermines the effectiveness of investment and aid .
Furthermore, there is no doubting the fact that corruption has plagued Nigeria for so many years and this has ultimately brought the country to her kneels, corruption in all shades and forms, which has diverse colourations, oozing putrid odour that stinks to high heavens, and there was no silver lining in the horizon until the coming into power of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB), lately the anti-graft searchlight beamed on the senate leadership over padding of the 2016 annual budget, this has generated unnecessary polemics and needless brouhaha from different quarters, as corruption is also fight back and desperate to remain relevant in the scheme of things in the country. Institutional corruption is too well entrenched in the country, making corruption to be more or less the official policy of the state, which make its cumbersome for corruption to be decisively dealt with over the years, it is for this reason that, one of the former rulers of this country said boldly that, stealing is not corruption, in those days of impunity, corruption went on unhindered and it was a matter of how much an individual could steal, but PMB is now saying, corruption is the worst form of human rights violation, noting that, if we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria, it is to this end, that the present administration is not leaving any stone unturned, in a bid to tackle corruption and ensure that things in the country are carried out in accordance with international best practices. We as a nation can ill-afford to carry on like this, any country that elevates corruption to place of pride cannot make any tangible progress and this is a fact of life. PMB is not afraid to take on corruption at any level and in any place in the country; this is of course predicated on one of the underlying principle rule of law, which is equality before the law, there are no sacred cows, as nobody is above the law. In times past, the case of alleged forgery in the senate would have been treated as a family matter, conveniently swept under the carpet and condemned to the dustbin, as relics of history. But PMB has taken the bull by its horns in fight corruption and he should be commended for it.
Old things have passed away, we now new rules of engagement, in the past Nigeria was a country of anything is possible, indeed, anything goes and where there is no law, there is a free reign of impunity. Before the advent of the present administration Nigeria was looked at with disdain and contempt; it was viewed as a country that full of potentials but lacked the wherewithal to actualize its dream because of several factors, chief of which is limitless grafts and corruption induced snags. In the old dispensation, corruption was the order of the day, government supported and protected graft, it rendered the anti-graft agencies functionary impotent, corruption does not only looms large, it was the order of the day, as it was view as the official policy of the state. So many Nigerians believed that, that was the way things will continue to shape out, but in life, whatever has a beginning will surely have an end; and the only constant thing in life is change, now there is a new sheriff in town hence, the philosophical underpinnings have not only changed, but have attracted added fresh impetus in this new era. In the last few years, serious matters, were treated as family affair and swept underneath the carpet, never to be visited again, but in life, no condition is permanent, hence, the parlance soldier go, soldier come, barracks remain!
Political corruption is a persistent phenomenon in Nigeria. President Muhammadu Buhari defined corruption as the greatest form of human right violation. Since the creation of modern public administration in the country, there have been cases of official misuse of funds and resources. The rise of public administration and the discovery of oil and natural gas are two major events seen to have led to the increase in corrupt practices in the country. The government has tried to contain corruption through the enactment of laws and the enforcement of integrity systems, but success has been slow in coming. In 2012, Nigeria was estimated to have lost over $400 billion to corruption since independence.
Corruption is Nigeria’s biggest challenge. It is clear to every citizen that the level of corruption in the country is high. It’s found in every sector of society. Be it a small or big sector, there is every possibility of observing corrupt practices when critically examined.
What is corruption? It’s the dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. It is the illegitimate use of power to benefit a private interest. Corruption is the giving of a bribe to an official so that the truth will not be told. It involves the embezzlement of public fund for personal use and any act which is considered to be criminal act according to the law of a particular society. Corruption is potent cancer that has mercilessly eaten Nigeria to a state of stupor, Nigeria, which is the most populated country in Africa, has been ranked high in corruption by Transparency International and other notable organizations that monitor corrupt practices around the world. They do not have anything good to say about Nigeria at all. High corruption rankings affect almost all Nigerians who migrate to foreign countries, as foreigners have the perception that since Nigeria is corrupt, so are all Nigerians. Hence, there must collaborative efforts and mass support to stamp out corruption at all levels in Nigeria.
Ayobolu, a public affairs analyst contributed this piece from Lagos State.
