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• Staff’ll be treated with dignity –Attahiru
From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja
The suspended Executive-Secretary of agency, Prof. Usman Yusuf yesterday appeared before the committee set up by the minister of Health to investigate petitions against him and allegations of fraud involving other staff.
In the letter seen by Daily Sun, Yusuf was directed to appear before the committee at the boardroom of the Utako Extension of the NHIS head office by 10am.
But Daily Sun learnt that, Yusuf, who was invited to appear before the committee chaired by the Health ministry’s, Permanent-Secretary Binta Bello, through a letter signed by Dr. O.J Amedu, dated July 18, failed to show at his former office at the instructed time, but was given the opportunity to meet with the panel at the Federal Ministry of Health yesterday.
Sources at the agency confirmed to this paper, that other officials who were suspended and equally asked to appear before the committee have been complying, including the former Acting Executive-Secretary, Femi Akingbade, who appeared before the panel yesterday morning.
Daily Sun also learnt that with the refusal of the suspended Executive-Secretary to appear before the panel at the NHIS office, which could be linked to his no-love-lost relationship with the Joint Staff Union, calls were made to him, on behalf of the committee, during which it was agreed that he could meet the Bello-led panel in the ministry.
“The decision to get across to Prof. Yusuf was taken after the panel finished with former Acting Executive-Secretary. The idea is to ensure that all involved are given fair hearing,” the source said.
The minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole, had on July 6, ordered Yusuf to proceed on suspension in order for the ministry’s panel to look into petitions sent to the ministry concerning actions he took as the head of NHIS.
But Yusuf, in his response, cited the NHIS Act Section 4 and 8 and said the minister didn’t have the power to remove him from office “whether by way of suspension or otherwise.”
Adewole also suspended John Okon, general manager, finance account; Yusuf Fatika, general manager, human resources and administration; and Shehu Adamu, assistant general manager, audit, Vincent Mamdam, assistant general manager, head insurance; Safiyanu Attah, senior assistant officer, marketing; Owen Udoma, senior manager, contribution management and Innocent Abbah, senior assistant officer, planning research and monitoring.
Calls made and a text sent to the spokesperson of Health ministry, Mrs. Boade Akinola, for the ministry’s reaction to the latest development were not answered as at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the Acting Executive-Secretary, Ibrahim Attahiru, in a personally signed statement, assured staff that they would be treated with dignity, henceforth.
Attahiru, in the statement made available to journalists yesterday, said the cooperation and commitment of staff is key to repositioning NHIS and making it more effective .
He called on staff members to rededicate themselves to ensuring that enrollees receive the best quality of care.
“Of all the assets we have, our people are the most valuable. We, therefore, took it upon ourselves to go round and carry out gauge mechanism. We realised there is a lot of work to be done in order to boost staff’s morale.
“This is aimed re-assuring them that they are human beings who deserve some dignity, and for them to realign their focus on the new vision,” the statement read.
