Arrest meant to break me, says ex-NHIS boss Yusuf after EFCC detention
By Jeffrey Agbo
Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of stifling dissent and targeting critics.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Sunday, Yusuf alleged that his recent arrest and detention were part of a broader effort to intimidate him and suppress opposing voices.
In February, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arraigned Yusuf on a five-count charge of alleged fraud, to which he pleaded not guilty before Justice Chinyere Nwecheonwu at the Federal Capital Territory High Court.
Reflecting on his time in custody, Yusuf described his 24-day stint in Kuje prison as a period of “retreat for rest, prayers and reflection,” claiming it only strengthened his resolve.
Recounting his arrest on January 29, Yusuf said men claiming to be EFCC operatives entered his home unannounced and without presenting an arrest warrant.
“On the 29th of January this year, at about 6:30pm, my wife came up to my room and said there were some gentlemen who knocked and just walked into the house. They walked in through the door and said they wanted to see me, claiming I was expecting them.
“They said they were from the EFCC and had come to take me. I said, ‘Guys, you haven’t even introduced yourselves.’ They quickly brought out their badges and confirmed they were from the EFCC,” he said.
Yusuf further alleged that the operatives prevented him from changing his clothes or receiving a change of clothing from his wife. During his transport, he said he was wedged between an armed officer and a young agent who high-fived each other “as if they had captured a notorious criminal like Kachalla Bello Turji”.
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According to Yusuf, he was held for six days at the EFCC facility before his arraignment, after which his bail request was denied due to what he described as the judge’s illness — a move he insists was unconstitutional.
“The denial of bail was wrong. Bail is a constitutionally guaranteed right for any accused person, except in cases of capital offences or terrorism, and my case was neither,” he said.
Yusuf claimed the government deliberately kept him behind bars in an attempt to shake him and silence him.
“This government deliberately denied me bail to shake me up. I spent six days at the EFCC and 24 days in Kuje prison — all to try and silence me. But I am not someone who can be silenced.
“The whole purpose was for the government of President Bola Tinubu to try to silence any form of dissent. This is coming from a president who himself was once a NADECO activist — someone who fought against the military, who ran across the border, and fled to safety,” he said.
Yusuf was appointed NHIS executive secretary in 2016 by former President Muhammadu Buhari. He was suspended by the Minister of Health in 2017 and by the NHIS board in 2018 over allegations of corruption, before being officially removed from office in 2019.
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