NHIS crisis: CSOs call for due process
A coalition of civil society groups in the country said the resolution of the House of Representatives seeking reinstatement of suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf is uncalled for. A statement signed by the coalition coordinator Comrade Bassey Williams, on Tuesday said the lawmakers’ intervention is “biased and […]
A coalition of civil society groups in the country said the resolution of the House of Representatives seeking reinstatement of suspended Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf is uncalled for.
A statement signed by the coalition coordinator Comrade Bassey Williams, on Tuesday said the lawmakers’ intervention is “biased and sentimental.”
Bassey described the NHIS helmsman refusal to obey the suspension order as an act of insubordination and should not be encouraged as his refusal could create unwarranted tension in the system.
The groups condemned the lawmakers’ conclusion and allegation that the suspension of the executive secretary of NHIS was due to his refusal to accede to series of demands for money by the Minister of Health.
Bassey further averred that the budget of the NHIS is captured under the annual budget of the Ministry of Health therefore, it is expected that the minister supervises and interrogates the implementation of the budget.
He demanded that the Minister engage all legal means to prosecute all persons involved in the alleged monumental corruption discovered during the reign of the former NHIS boss.
“We frown at the outcry over the manner in which the committee set up to investigate the NHIS was constituted and we condemn the assertion that the members of the committee are corrupt.
“It is unfortunate to note that the said request of about five million naira for sponsorship of officials to the 70th World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva, Switzerland in May, 2017 was neither approved nor released by the NHIS Executive Secretary.