THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, on fraud allegations at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
Yusuf, who was arraigned on Monday, February 3, before a judge, Chinyere Nwecheonwu, pleaded not guilty to the five-count preferred against him.
The trial judge ordered his remand at the Kuje Correctional Centre.
This decision was made after the defendant’s counsel, O.I. Habeeb, requested that his client be held in the custody of the EFCC pending the hearing of his bail application.
However, the judge ruled that the defendant could not be kept in EFCC custody after arraignment and therefore ordered his remand at the correctional centre.
The case was adjourned to February 12 for the defendant’s bail hearing.
Yusuf is facing allegations of corruption and abuse of office.
He was arrested on Wednesday, January 29, when operatives of the EFCC stormed his Abuja home at about 4:30 p.m. and picked him up for alleged N4 billion fraud, among other infractions.
His arrest followed an ongoing investigation into an allegation that he inflated the NHIA’s ICT budget from N4.975 billion to N8.7 billion and approved payments beyond his approval limit.
According to media reports, the EFCC is investigating Yusuf for also awarding contracts to a company known as Lubekh Nigeria Limited, where his nephew Khalifa Hassan Yusufu is a director.
Yusuf, a professor of haematology/oncology and bone marrow transplant, is also being held for financial mismanagement and abuse of office.
It’s alleged that he used his position for personal gains, approving contracts without following due process and awarding contracts to firms that lacked the competence to execute projects.
Yusuf was appointed as the head of NHIS (now the National Health Insurance Authority, NHIA) on July 29, 2016. His tenure at the agency was plagued by controversies.
He severally had confrontations with the former minister of health, Isaac Adewole, a professor, and the chairperson of the board of the former NHIS, Enyantu Ifenne, who jointly accused him of high-handedness, mismanagement, corruption and other infractions.
The NHIA staff protested at various times at the organisation’s headquarters in Jabi, Abuja, demanding his sack.
Several petitions were submitted to former President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Ministry of Health, alleging misconduct and fraudulent practices against him.
Buhari eventually sacked him in July 2019, ten months after he was suspended from office by the governing council of the agency.
A reporter with the ICIR
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