By Abiola Olawale
Usman Yusuf, a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), is set to remain in the Kuje Correctional Centre, Abuja, as the Federal High Court Abuja has set February 27 as the ruling date for his bail application.
The presiding judge, Justice Chinyere Nwecheonwu, gave this ruling after listening to arguments from the prosecution and the defendant’s legal counsel on the bail application.
During court proceedings, the legal counsel of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Francis Usani, told the court that the offences alleged against the defendant affect the general well-being of the common man in Nigeria, soiling the image and reputation of the country as a whole and reduces government’s efforts to sustain development in the country.
“The evidence elicited in the course of investigation against the defendant is overwhelming and can lead to the defendant being convicted by the court.
“I know for a fact that the applicant failed to comply with the administrative bail conditions granted him by the respondent to report regularly and bi-weekly to the respondent’s office while he was under investigation,” Usani said.
He also told the court that the prosecution was of the view that the defendant was still highly connected and had immense influence at the NHIS to temper and influence most of the respondent’s witnesses that will come from the NHIS to testify before the court.
However, the legal counsel for the defendant, O. I. Habeeb, in his argument told the court that the defence is praying for an order of the court to admit the defendant on bail pending his trial in the case, on such terms and conditions as the court may deem fit to impose.
He also prayed for any further order the court might decide to make, adding that the offences for which the defendant is charged are bailable and that he has satisfied all the necessary conditions for him to be admitted on bail on liberal terms.
Thereafter, Justice Nwecheonwu adjourned the matter for ruling on the bail application to February 27, 2025.
The New Diplomat reports that the EFCC had formally charged Yusuf with a five-count amended indictment charges relating to accusations of fraudulent activities.
These charges highlight serious allegations of misconduct during his tenure and breach of public trust in his role overseeing national health insurance initiatives.
Yusuf is accused of financial mismanagement, allegedly inflating an ICT budget from N4.975 billion to N8.7 billion, approving payments beyond his limit, awarding contracts to family members, including Lubekh Nigeria Limited, where his nephew Khalifa Hassan Yusufu was allegedly a director, and using his position for personal gains by approving contracts without due process.
Yusuf was arrested at his Abuja residence on January 29, 2025, and was initially scheduled to be arraigned on January 30.
The New Diplomat also reports that Yusuf became the executive secretary of the NHIS in 2016 after he was appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He was suspended by the health minister in 2017 and the board of the NHIS in 2018 over alleged corruption and other irregularities in the running of the scheme.
He was thereafter removed as NHIS executive secretary after embarking on an administrative leave in 2019.
