FG inaugurates panel to investigate NHIS
News & Trends •
by kate obande-okewu4 other are mr shamsuddeen bello deputy director expenditure osgf mr ishaq yahaya director certification and compliance bureau of public procurement and dr ekanem udoh director science federal ministry of science and technology1 this is coming few days after1 at the ceremony in abuja mustapha told members of the independent fact-finding panel that nhis had been involved in various crises which had led to the suspension of its executive secretary prof. usman yusuf1 he said that the crises had also called for the scrapping of the health management organisations hmo operating in the scheme1 president muhammadu buhari is passionate about the health of the citizens so as part of the crises it had become necessary to set up a panel that will investigate the infractions in the scheme1 the panel has two weeks to complete the assignment and all hands must be on deck to ensure that you deliver to the satisfaction of the president mustapha said1 in her remarks head of civil service of the federation mrs winifred oyo-iya assured the panel of her support and guidance in carrying out its assignment1 oyo-ita who was represented by the director ippis ohcsf mrs anne attah said that all civil servants were enrolled on the nhis and that its success was important for the progress of the civil service1 she expressed confidence in the chairman of the panel dr hassan bukar stating that as a former permanent secretary he knew the rules and regulations of the civil service1 secretary to government of the federation sgf mr boss mustapha on friday inaugurated a fact-finding committee on national health insurance scheme nhis and advised it to eschew bias in its assignment1 adewole promised to help the panel in speeding up the discharge of the assignment to enable it to deliver on time adding that the problem of nhis was deeply rooted1 i promise to help speed up the process of the panel and once the report is turned in it will be implemented immediately he said1 accepting the responsibility chairman of the panel bukar said that it was a rare privilege to be bestowed with such confidence and responsibility by the government1 he noted that the task was onerous but assured that the panel would ensure that it delivered on time1 bukar added that the panel would work assiduously to restore nhis to its glory1 the panel will investigate alleged infractions listed by the nhis governing council in its letter of oct. 18 2018 and determine the extent of culpability or otherwise of the executive secretary1 it is mandated to make appropriate recommendations including on issues that led to the unhealthy relationship between the board and the chief executive officer of the scheme1 it will also investigate and make recommendations on the extent of involvement of staff unions within the organisation to the impasse between the board and executive secretary1 mrs jummai idakwo osgf is secretary of the panel which has dr emmanuel meribole director federal ministry of health and mr adewale owolo director audit office of the auditor general of the federation oagf as members1 on his part minister of health prof. isaac adewole commended the sgf for his prompt intervention in the nhis issue1