The unrest in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is a direct product of, once again, the presidency’s tardy management of an otherwise straight subject. A government riding on a wave of anti-corruption campaign cannot justify its directive that a public officer remains on his seat while being investigated for alleged high profile corruption. More unconscionable is that the president overrules, by fiat, a suspension order legitimately clamped on the officer in question by his superior officers.
Sadly, this was exactly what happened in the NHIS when its Executive Secretary Professor Usman Yusuf, earlier suspended to facilitate investigation of his alleged involvement in the embezzlement of N91 million, was reinstated to his office by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) are still investigating the allegation.
It is on record that Yusuf was asked to proceed on suspension by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, whose ministry supervises the NHIS. It is equally on record that when the corruption allegation blew open, the president was away on medical vacation; and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, then the acting president, supported Yusuf’s suspension, in order to facilitate the investigation.
According to reports that have not been disputed, the presidency, in a letter to the minister signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, simply informed Prof. Adewole of Yusuf’s reinstatement, without any reference to the embezzlement allegations. It is against this background that NHIS workers, comprising members of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) staged a protest against their perception of impunity and relegation of due process in a matter of public interest.
The workers’ reaction is not unexpected, and is in fact appreciable as a measure of supporting government’s anti-corruption policy. What is curious is why the presidency should order the reinstatement of the Executive Secretary during the pendency of investigation of alleged fraud involving him. Does the presidency not recognise its act as condoning, even encouraging corruption and impunity, more so as the presidency failed to anchor its reinstatement order on the present position of the investigation?
Clearly, the president’s directive undermines both the authority of the Minister of Health, and the endorsement given by the Vice President. The unmistakable signal is that anyone can do anything, no matter how irregular or criminal, and get away with it, as long as the doer is in the good book of the president! This cannot be a decorous way to fight corruption.
The presidency’s action is particularly alarming against the yet unsettled dust over the wrong-headed handling of the reinstatement, with promotion, of former Chairman of Pension Reform Task Team, Abdulrasheed Maina, to the federal public service. Although President Buhari subsequently ordered the removal of Maina following public uproar, his unexplained reinstatement, after he had been declared wanted by the EFCC; and failure of government to identify and punish a culprit, portrayed the presidency of employing double standard in the fight against corruption.
When added to the Maina’s incident, the current NHIS episode goes to confirm charges that there are indeed two sets of laws guiding citizens in the country, with one set reserved solely for people, like Maina and now Yusuf, deemed to be sacred cows.
Is there any guarantee that the Executive Secretary will not interfere with the investigation? Is it in fact implausible that the presidency having prematurely restored Yusuf to his office might have directly or otherwise terminated the investigation? What is the hurry in asking that an officer indicted and suspended through an independent panel returns to his office before the conclusion of investigation into a financial crime allegedly involving him?
In an attempt to justify the presidency’s action, Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed explained that Yusuf’s reinstatement would not stop the crime agencies’ investigation. This is untenable and, as the minister is aware, against international best practices. The ideal is for the investigating agencies to pronounce a clean verdict on a suspect, after which his rights and privileges will be restored. This has not happened in NHIS.
President Buhari has an opportunity to accord some decency and transparency into his anti-graft campaign, by restoring Yusuf’s interdiction and thereby allowing anti-corruption agencies unfettered investigation into the N91 million embezzlement allegation. If the presidency fails to act appropriately, it may have unwittingly set the stage for the total failure of the campaign against corruption.
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