The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, before the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Kuje, Abuja, on a five-count amended charge bordering on alleged fraud.
Arrested last Wednesday by the EFCC, Yusuf is being accused of using his office to confer undue advantages to himself between 2016 and 2017.
Specifically, the EFCC accused Yusuf of using his position at the time to confer an undue advantage to himself by approving the purchase of a vehicle at the cost of N49,197,750 against the budgeted sum of N30,000,000. The EFCC also accused Yusuf of retaining a private interest in the corporate entity called GK Kanki Foundation.
The commission also accused Yusuf of awarding a contract in the sum of N10.1 million in favour of the GK Kanki Foundation for the purported training of 90 persons without following due process.
During the court proceedings, Yusuf pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to him. His counsel, O.I. Habeeb, requested that he be remanded in EFCC custody pending the hearing of his bail application.
However, the presiding judge, Justice Chinyere Nwecheonwu, ruled that “once the defendant has been arraigned, he ceases to be in the custody of the EFCC.” She subsequently ordered that Yusuf be remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja until the hearing of his bail application.
The court adjourned the case to February 12, 2025, for further proceedings.