The new Permanent Secretary of Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Health, Abdullahi Mashi, has assumed office, a press statement from the ministry has stated.

According to the statement on Monday by spokesperson of the ministry, Boade Akinola, Mr Mashi is one of the three permanent secretaries whose redeployment was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 29.

Mr Mashi took over from Clement Uwaifo. Mr Uwaifo had left the ministry on June 28 and handed over to the Director, Department of Public Health, Evelyn Ngige, to steer the affairs of the ministry in acting capacity until the appointment of a substantive permanent secretary.

Addressing the directors and management staff of the ministry, the new permanent secretary stressed the need to improve on service delivery at hospitals, particularly at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments.

He said this was very important in order to address the current worrisome situation experienced by patients across the country.

In that regards, Mr. Mashi urged the Servicom department of the ministry to occasionally pay unscheduled visits to hospitals to monitor service delivery activities with the aim of ensuring proper work ethics and improving efficiency.

The new Permanent Secretary said with the calibre of staff the ministry is endowed with, he was at home and willing to learn quickly in order to get used to his new office.

He also sought the cooperation of members of the labour union of the ministry which he said was necessary for a peaceful working environment.

Mr. Mashi, an accountant by profession and an indigene of Katsina State, was deployed from the Federal Ministry of Communications.

Before his appointment as permanent secretary, he was the Director of Finance and Accounts in Nigeria Security and Defence Corps, Abuja.

L-R Permanent secretary ministry of health, Abdullahi Mashi and Director, Department of Public Health, Evelyn Ngige [Photo: Ministry of health ]

Mr Mashi studied at Bayero University Kano where he majored in Accounting, graduating in 1983 with second class upper honours degree.

In 2010, he earned an MBA in Financial Management from the University of Plymouth’s Business School, MBA programme.

He worked with the Bauchi Area Office of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Finance of the old Kaduna and African Petroleum Plc, Lagos as an Internal Auditor and Plant Accountant.

He returned to public service in 1994, serving for three years as the Chief Finance Officer of the defunct National Board of Community Banks; in 1997, he was posted to the Office of the Chief of General Staff where he served for two years as the Assistant Chief Accountant.