The Federal Government has said that the reinstatement of Professor Usman Yusuf as the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) does not stop any ongoing investigation into the allegations of corruption levelled against him.
Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, said this on Wednesday in Abuja in his reaction to the controversy that trialed the reinstatement of the NHIS boss.
Professor Yusuf was suspended alongside eight other top officials of the agency in June 2017 by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, over the allegations of gross misconduct.
Following his suspension, the Minister had constituted a panel which reportedly found the NHIS boss culpable of nepotism and theft of public funds.
President Muhammadu Buhari, however, reinstated Professor Yusuf on Tuesday, February 6, coming more than seven months after his suspension.
Mohammed, on his part, defended the President’s action while briefing State House correspondents shortly after the Federal Executive Council meeting in the nation’s capital.
He said the government was not aware that the NHIS boss was being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The Information Minister noted that despite that, Yusuf’s reinstatement does not stop the anti-graft agency from proceeding with their investigation.
Far from the NHIS controversy, the ministers of finance and interior – Mrs Kemi Adeosun and Lieutenant General Abdulrahman Dambazau briefed reporters on the outcomes of the FEC meeting.
Mrs Adeosun who spoke on a $2.5billion external borrowing for refinancing noted that the FG Bonds dropped from about 16 – 16.50% to 13.50%.
According to her, this translates to savings for government on new borrowing while also making the cost of borrowing for the real sector cheaper
The Finance Minister further explained that estimated proceeds of the N762.5billion would be used to redeem the Treasury Bills.
On his part, Lieutenant General Dambazau announced an approval by the Council to procure 35 operational vehicles at the cost of N495million, including the value-added tax for the Immigrations.
