Follow Us on Google
From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
Director General of the Plateau State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency
(PLASCHEMA), a state social health insurance scheme, Dr. Manasseh Agabus Nanfwang, has said that agency will stick to its responsibility of making available preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative healthcare services to residents of Plateau at an affordable cost and would not deviate from this motive.
Nanfwang said the agency will remain focussed and resolute in achieving this and assured the people that all the pooled resources would be judiciously used to provide the needed care to all residents of the state.
The DG made the clarification in response to Netizons who took to the social media to accuse the agency of being turned into an avenue for siphoning state funds.
They had alleged that the Secretary to the Government of Plateau State, Samuel Jatau, had planted the Director Health Services, Standards and Quality Control, David Wuyep, to act as pipe for embezzling the agency’s funds.
Speaking to newsmen in Jos on Wednesday, Nanfwang, represented by Wuyep, described the allegations as baseless, flippant and mischievous.
According to him, the allegations might not have been unconnected with the scuffle over the position of the chief executive of the agency immediately the former administration exited.
He said, “As soon as Caleb Mutfwang came into office, a directive was issued to all CEO of MDAs to handover to the next senior officer in all MDAs and this triggered a scuffle for the position of the acting DG of the agency and it’s at this point that the Secretary of the of the Government of Plateau state came into the picture who was able to resolve the scuffle, which eventually made me the acting DG.
“It should be noted that here that this was my first encounter with the SGS who has proven to be a seasoned administrator, a man of integrity who would rather identify with the truth as against the speculation to drive home an ill intention that our economic situation has climaxed to a deplorable state that warrant men to sell their conscience for a morsel.”
He said that immediately he assumed office, his predecessor handed N10 million to him, in addition to the N28 million handed over to his predecessor by the pioneer DG, making a total of N38 million and wondered where the N800 million he was accused to have expended came from.
“With respect to the allegation on pilfering, as soon as this government came into power, an Executive order from the office of the Attorney general was served directing the Agency to carry out an investigattve audit of the Agency from inception and an external audit firm was engaged. This was done and the report forwarded to the office of the Attorney general for necessary punitive measures.
“And we believe that the investigative audit findings would have answered all questons on
misappropriation of funds within the Agency.
Also, 13million had been speculated to have been expended on Portraits production. Here, the Agency clearly and sincerely posit that there has never been a contract awarded to the sum of N13million in the Agency for portraits as speculated.
He added, ” Meanwhile from the month of May, 2023, the agency was already indebted with regards to payments of capitation and service fees for facilities for three months to approximately N162,000.
Nanfwang said that the agency was only rescued by the prompt payment of salaries and release of remittances by the Mutfwang administration, which made the agency to be up to date with payment of capitation and fee for service to facilities, which had attracted even more facilities under the programme as against the speculations that some facilities had exited.
He said that the agency has been able to convince and attract one of the most difficult sector – the Informal sector – and is currently having more than 3000 enrolees.
