Former Executive Secretary of Nigeria’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, has revealed how a former Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, allegedly withdrew N10 billion in two tranches from the Scheme’s Treasury Single Account (TSA) without his approval as Chief Executive Officer.
Yusuf disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday titled: “Standing Firm For What Is Right.” He stated that the withdrawals were made despite his efforts to recover over N100 billion in NHIS funds trapped in 13 commercial banks.
According to him, the funds were allegedly withheld in direct violation of the Federal Government’s directive to transfer funds to the TSA.
A former Auditor-General of the Federation, Anthony Ayine, had denied involvement in the alleged illegal withdrawal, describing claims of conniving with former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo as “false and mischievous.”
Yusuf claimed he employed an independent accounting firm to conduct a forensic audit of NHIS accounts, revealing the trapped funds.
He said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria had directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to transfer all their funds from commercial banks to Treasury Single Accounts (TSAs) with the Central Bank (CBN) by the end of September 2015. This was almost a year before I assumed office in August 2016.”
“The accounting firm presented its final report to me in the last quarter of 2017,” he noted.
According to him, the report revealed that 13 commercial banks had refused to remit over N100 billion of NHIS funds to the TSA Account in the CBN, directly violating the Federal Government’s directive.
He regretted that senior government officials he reached out to for assistance in recovering these trapped funds, including the then-governing board of the Scheme, Minister of Health Prof. Isaac Adewole; Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele; Chief of Staff to the President, late Abba Kyari; and the Attorney General of the Federation, declined to offer assistance.
“My spirited efforts yielded no positive result,” he declared, noting that “the Accountant General of the Federation illegally withdrew a total of N10 in two trenches (N5b twice) from NHIS TSA account without consulting me or getting my approval as the CEO.”
“The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, rebuffed my repeated request to see her and discuss these illegal withdrawals. I then reported her to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Engr. B.D. Lawal, who called her in my presence and asked her to see me, but she never did until her unceremonious exit from President Buhari’s government,” he narrated.
He said: “During one of my two suspensions from office, I got an unexpected call from a gentleman who introduced himself as Ibrahim Magu, the Acting Chairman of the EFCC. He asked me to come over to the Commission.
“On arrival, I was ushered into a conference room where he had assembled several senior officers. He walked in, and after a few pleasantries and introduction of the officers, he asked me to provide them with all documents related to NHIS funds held illegally by HMOs, banks or any organisation or individual. He then briskly walked out of the room.”
“True to his words, the EFCC under him swung into action and started recovering billions of NHIS money from banks and HMOs based on the documents I provided. In a letter to the NHIS Executive Secretary after my exit regarding repatriation of the first trench of recoveries to the NHIS, the Acting Chairman signed the letter himself and graciously mentioned my name and acknowledged my efforts in the Commission’s recovery efforts,” Yusuf noted.
He, however, noted that if the EFCC’s current leadership had taken the time to do some due diligence, they would have found out that “I have a nine-year history and a big file at the Commission on my fight against corruption during my time at the NHIS.”
Yusuf faces fraud charges related to contract distribution and ICT budget inflation during his tenure as NHIS Executive Secretary.
The EFCC alleges that Yusuf artificially increased the ICT budget from N4.975 billion to N8.7 billion and distributed contracts to family members.