NHIS Council Chairman Suspends Executive Secretary…Suspension Illegal – OSGF

The indefinite suspension of Professor Usman Yusuf as the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on Thursday has been described as “illegal”.

A source in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), who spoke under the condition of anonymity to our correspondent, described the move as unlawful.

In the suspension notice sighted by THE WHISTLER, the Chairman of the NHIS Council, Dr Eyantu Ifenne, said Yusuf’s suspension was necessary to allow for investigations into allegations of “infractions” leveled against him.

The Council said it has reviewed the alleged infractions and petitions leveled against the ES and has relied on “the provisions of the powers granted the Council in the NHIS Act in Part 11, Section 6 (i) which states that “doing such other things as are necessary or expedient for the purpose of achieving the objectives of the Scheme” and “Section 7 (a) and (j) which states, “ carry out such activities as are necessary and expedient for the purpose of achieving the objectives of the Scheme set out in this Act.”

It said, “The Council has noted these infractions as serious misconducts and in line with the public service rule 030406, has resolved to suspend you, Professor Usman Yusuf, indefinitely with effect from 18th October 2018 to allow for a comprehensive and unfettered investigation of the issues in the petitions against you.”

But speaking in a phone interview with our correspondent, the OSGF source said the Council lacked the powers to suspend the Executive Secretary as he is a presidential appointee and as such can only be suspended or removed by the President alone.

“What the NHIS Governing Council has done is unlawful. The Executive Secretary remains an appointee of the President. What the Council may have done was to recommend Yusuf’s suspension to the President, and even at that, it remains within the President’s purview to act,” said the source.

Meanwhile, THE WHISTLER gathered that Professor Yusuf was at the Presidential Villa as of when the news of his suspension broke. Our source could not immediately ascertain what could have informed his visit to the State House at press time.