There always are concrete human groupings which fight other concrete human groupings in the name of justice, humanity, order, or peace. When being reproached for immorality and cynicism, the spectator of political phenomena can always recognize in such reproaches a political weapon used in actual combat-Carl Schmitt (1888-1985)
It is no longer news that on July 6, 2017, the minister of health, Professor Isaac Adewole suspended the Executive Secretary (ES) of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), although, the act establishing the NHIS did not give power. Though, the minister claimed he has the power to do so since the ES is public servant who is bound to abide by the rules guiding the service.
Ours is a country govern by law and the pronouncement of a court of competent jurisdiction is bound to be obeyed by all. Professor Usman Yusuf is not the first ES of NHIS and surly not going be the last ES. Nigerians and in particular, federal government should be aware that there is federal high court judgment in Abuja which settled the issue of whether the minister of health can suspend or remove a sitting ES of NHIS in Dr, BMW Dogo Mohameed Vs the then minister of health, where the court ruled that the minister has no such power. The judgment was later appealed and got struck out on the ground of lack of diligent prosecution. So, as it stands now, the minister of health cannot suspend the ES of NHIS.
There is no doubt that Professor Usman Yusuf wouldn’t have been suspended if he had allowed the minister access to the funds of NHIS. Although, the minister has not responded to the allegation by the suspended ES, that because he did not allow the minister to lay his hand on the fund of the Scheme, the minister made him target of humiliation. This allegation has been in public domain for long time now. The report by Daily Trust of July 10, 2017, with the caption; INVESTIGATION: Suspension of NHIS boss: The untold story, says it all. Similarly, an online newspaper, Daily Post of July 14, 2017 corroborated the position of Daily Trust on the weighty allegations against the minister of health. The most surprising thing is that the south west axis press that has been vocal about the so-called corruption perpetrated by the ES of NHIS has not deemed it necessary to investigate the allegations against Professor Isaac Adewole. This criminal silence on the part of Lagos-Ibadan axis press, has generally reinforced the believe that Professor Usman Yusuf is being hounded by cartel holding NHIS down which has the backing of powerful political actor(s) from the south west.
The House of Representatives, an important institution of government, had on the 19th of October, 2018, according to Guardian newspaper report with caption: Reps may query Yusuf’s suspension by NHIS council; this spoke volumes of the determination of the health minister to ignore constituted authority in an effort to stifle government’s noble intention to reposition NHIS. Instructively, this is the reaction of the spokesperson of the House on the suspension: “We still stand by our position. It has not changed as we speak. However, I am not aware that the council has suspended the NHIS boss. By the time the House is formerly communicated on the issue, we will know the next step to take.”
Here also is the position of House Committee on Health Services on the suspension: — Chika Okafor, the Chairman of the House Committee on Health Services, described the minister’s action as contemptuous. He said the suspension was intended to intimidate, silence and punish Yusuf for testifying recently before the committee. Witnesses who testify before the House’s committees are protected from administrative sanctions and intimidation, he explained.
“The committee was aware that the minister wrote to the executive secretary through the permanent secretary, Mrs. Binta Adamu Bello, to pay N197, 072,500 for the rehabilitation of some federal medical centres in a contract awarded by the ministry in 2016. “The letter also directed Yusuf to pay the money to the ministry’s account number: 0020155061015 in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), even when there were no budgetary provisions for the payment in the NHIS’s 2016 budget.” He further alleged: “In another letter, the permanent secretary asked Yusuf to pay $37,838 to six officials of the ministry to attend a World Health Organisation conference in Geneva.”
While the ES of NHIS was on suspension, the same Lagos –Ibadan axis press, came out with wild allegation against him. They alleged that he spent N10 billion despite being on suspension. But upon investigation by House of Representatives Committee on Health Services, another thing altogether was discovered. This is how Punch newspaper of March 14, 2018 captioned it: Reps to investigate alleged illegal withdrawal of N10b from NHIS fund. This excerpt from the report is instructive: — The House committees on Healthcare services, Finance and Anti-Corruption have been mandated to probe into the issue and turn in its report within four weeks. Leading the debate on the issue, Okafor claimed that during a recent oversight inspection of the NHIS by his committee, it was discovered that there were two suspicious withdrawals of N5 billion each from the “Insured Persons” funds account with the CBN on December 28, 2016 and January 11, 2018 respectively when the Executive Secretary of the NHIS, Professor Usman Yusuf was under suspension.
Okafor who claimed that neither Yusuf nor any staff of the agency authorised the two withdrawals, alleged that the withdrawal of the monies were authorised by Adeosun in contravention of the laws and regulations governing the action. He maintained that if such practices were not checked, it would erode public and international confidence in the NHIS scheme and make a mockery of the on -going anti -graft stance of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration—.
Clearly, rational Nigerians can see from the chronology of events that, while it may appear to the gullible that NHIS ES illegal suspension was as a result of corruption, the fact remains that, Professor Usman Yusuf is being hounded simply because he refused to allow the minister of health, Professor Isaac Adewole access to NHIS fund. It may even appear Carl Schmitt had the current NHIS debacle in mind when he made his famous quote.
Emeka Oraetoka
Information Management Consultant and Researcher.
Wrote in from Abuja
e-mail:oramekllis@lycos.ccom
