The Presidency has reacted to the leadership crisis currently rocking the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) following the refusal by the Executive Secretary of the Scheme, Professor Usman Yusuf to honour his suspension by NHIS Governing Council.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, who spoke while appearing on Channels Television lamented that the crisis in the agency had assumed ethnic and political dimension, stressing that the suspended boss was suffering because he had plucked leakages and stopped corrupt practices there.
“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.
“Money from the NHIS is not money belonging to the government, it is money taken from your salary, from my salary. If we have been enlisted, we are supposed to get treatment when we fall ill. You should ask the question: In 13 years of the NHIS, how many Nigerians have received treatment?
“Yet, you have HMOs (Health Management Organisations), these vendors, 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.
“And even then, the administration is not satisfied. We want to see healthcare delivered to the citizens of this country. So, there is a lot of work to do.”
Prof Usman was suspended indefinitely last week to pave way for an investigation into allegations leveled against him. The chairman of the governing council, Dr Eyantu Ifenne at a briefing in the scheme headquarter on Thursday said, based on the review of various documents on allegations leveled against him, they have resolved to constitute an administrative panel to investigate and submit their report in the next three months.
