Following the lingering leadership crisis that rocked the headship of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) between the Executive Secretary (ES), Prof. Usman Yusuf and the governing board of the parastatal, on Monday 1st July 2019 President Muhammadu Buhari approved the termination of the appointment of Mr Yusuf.
It was established that Yusuf was immediately replaced with Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo as the new Executive Secretary. Making the announcement, Director of Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Health, Mrs Boade Akinola, revealed that the change at NHIS followed the recommendations of a report by an Independent Fact Finding Panel.
The statement added, “Similarly, the President also approved the dissolution of the Governing Board of NHIS and directed the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health to exercise full powers of the Council pending the constitution of a new Board.
In another development, President Buhari also approved the appointment of Dr Chikwe Andreas Ihekweazu as Director–General (DG) of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for a second term. Chikwe'an appointment is in line with the provisions of section 11(1)(3) of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control(Establishment) Act, 2018.
