A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Kuje on Monday remanded a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, in prison custody.
Prof. Yusuf was remanded after he pleaded not guilty to an amended five-count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which was preferred against him.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the defendant, who was appointed to head the NHIS by former President Muhammadu Buhari in August 2016, abused his office by gaining an undue advantage.
The defendant, whom the EFCC arrested on January 29, allegedly approved the purchase of a vehicle at a cost of N49,197,750, which was higher than the budgeted sum of N30,000,000.
EFCC alleged that as a public officer in the services of NHIS, the defendant, who held a private interest in the corporate entity known as GK Kanki Foundation, without recourse to the due process, awarded a N10.1million contract to the Foundation for purported training of 90 persons when the actual number of the participants was 45.
He was said to have committed an offence contrary to Section 45 of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, and punishable under the same Section 45 (2) and (3) of the same Act.
Meanwhile, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him on Monday, even as his lawyer, Mr. O. I. Habeeb, prayed the court to allow him to remain in EFCC custody, pending the determination of his request for bail.
However, trial Justice Chinyere Nwecheonwu declined the request, noting that the prison was appropriate to keep a defendant who had been arraigned in court.
Consequently, she ordered that the defendant be remanded at Kuje prison until February 12, when his bail will be determined.
It will be recalled that Prof. Yusuf was initially suspended by the Health Minister in 2017 and later by the NHIS Board in 2018 over alleged corruption.
He was subsequently removed as NHIS Executive Secretary in 2019 after he was sent on administrative leave.
Prof. Yusuf’s arrest and trial sparked reactions, with Atiku Abubakar, a former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, describing it as an attempt to suppress opposition voices.
“The Tinubu government, despite being riddled with individuals who themselves are embroiled in scandals and investigations by both local and international authorities, continues to use the very machinery of the state to silence its critics. It weaponises these pending investigations to suppress all opposition,” Atiku stated in a post he shared on his social media platforms.
One of the counts in the charge against the defendant read: “That you, Prof. Usman Yusuf, sometime between 2016 and 2017, whilst being the Executive Secretary Of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court used your position to confer an undue advantage upon yourself and knowingly acquired a private interest in an entity known as Lubekh Nigeria Limited owned by your nephew, Khalifa Hassan Yusuf by awarding to him a contract for media and special public relations consultancy in the sum of N17, 500.000.00 and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 22 and punishable under the same section of the Corrupt Practices and other offences Act, 2000.”
