Court sends former NHIS boss to prison after arraignment for N90.4m fraud

The Federal Capital Territory High Court in Kuje, Abuja, on Monday, ordered the remand of a former Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, in prison over N90.4 million fraud charges.

The judge, Chinyere E. Nwecheonwu, gave the remand order following Mr Yusuf’s arraignment.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) him on five counts of fraud and conferring undue advantage on himself. About N90.4 million is involved in the charges, according to EFCC.

Mr Yusuf, professor of haematology-oncology and bone marrow transplantation, pleaded not guilty to all five counts.

Following the defendant’s plea, prosecuting lawyer, Francis Usani, urged the court to schedule the case for trial.

Defence lawyer, O.I Habeeb, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), did not oppose Mr Usani’s application. However, he prayed the court to remand the defendant in the custody of the EFCC pending the hearing of his bail application.

In her ruling, the judge, Ms Nwecheonwu, remanded the defendant in Kuje correctional facility in Abuja. She said prison is the proper place of custody of a defendant after arraignment.

She then adjourned till 12 February for hearing of defe dant’s bail request.

EFCC arrested Mr Yusuf in Abuja last Wednesday and detained him ahead of proceedings scheduled for the following day (Thursday).

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At Thursday’s hearing, the lawyer who led the defence team, Isah Haruna, applied orally to the court for Mr Yusuf’s bail.

However, the judge turned down the request, given that the defendant’s arraignment has been rescheduled for Monday.

He ordered the remand of the defendant in EFCC till Monday (today).

Charges

Mr Yusuf, faces five counts of fraudulent awards of contracts worth N90.4 million to companies in which he and family members had interests.

In the case filed on 29 November 2024, EFCC alleged that he committed the offences between 2016 and 2017, coinciding with the period he was enmeshed in various controversies of alleged irregularities and corruption.

The EFCC indictment includes an allegation of conferring undue advantage on himself by approving the purchase of a vehicle at the cost of N49.197 million (N49,197,750) against the budgeted sum of N30 million.

The commission also charged him with knowingly holding a private interest in a company, GK Kanki Foundation, and awarding a contract worth N10.1 million in favour of the entity without due process. The charge added that the contract was a “purported training of 90 persons,” when the “actual number of the participants were 45 persons.

He was also accused of using his position to confer undue advantage on himself by “knowingly awarding” a contract for media and special public relations consultancy worth N17.5 million to an entity, Lubekh Nigeria Limited belonging to his nephew, Khalifa Hassan Yusuf. The count alleged that Mr Yusuf, despite being a public officer, knowingly acquired a private interest in the entity.

EFCC said the contracts involved in all charges are worth N90.4 million.

According to EFCC, the various offences violate and are punishable under section 22 the Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Act, 2000.

Section 22 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Act, 2000, states that a public officer who uses their position to gain a corrupt or unfair advantage for themselves or an associate is guilty of an offence, punishable by imprisonment for five years without the option of a fine.

Mr Yusuf and controversies

Mr Yusuf’s tenure as the NHIS head during the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari was marked by controversies.

He faced various allegations, including misappropriation of funds, nepotism, misconduct, blatant disregard for higher authority, and the use of inappropriate language toward a senior officer.

He was also accused of violating regulations by granting financial assistance to an individual who was not enrolled in the NHIS while denying the same support to a staff member of the scheme, who later passed away.

He was suspended by the Minister of Health in 2017 and by the Board of NHIS in October 2018 before he was sent on an administrative leave in 2019, marking the end of his tenure in office.

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Mr Yusuf, a member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), is a critic of President Bola Tinubu’s government.

He recently declared that no reasonable northerner would ever subscribe to the Muslim-Muslim presidency in the country again considering the present experience in the region under Mr Tinubu’s leadership. He also blamed Mr Buhari for the neglect of some deteriorating roads in the North.

“No northerner should blame anyone for our current situation. We brought it upon ourselves. In 2015 we voted out the administration under the pretence of Boko Haram, today, where are we? We had Muhammadu Buhari as President for eight years, yet, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road is not completed.

“Today, billions of Naira have been earmarked for the Lagos – Calabar coastal highway. Who are we to blame for this? Ourselves of course. Our children cannot go to school, the farmers cannot go to the farms because of insecurity, banditry. Who are the bandits, who are the Boko Haram? Now, we have another Lakurawa, who are these people? Our people of course,” he said.

Mr Yusuf criticised the President’s economic management team, calling them “tax collectors” rather than “economists.”

According to him, Mr Tinubu’s economic team “looks more like tax collectors than economists. Taxation does not grow the economy; only production does,” he said.