Justice Chinyere Nwecheonwu of the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Abuja on Monday remanded a former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Usman Yusuf, at the Kuje Correctional Centre over alleged N919 million fraud.
Justice Nwecheonwu issued the remand order following Yusuf’s arraignment and his “not guilty” plea.
The former NHIS boss is facing a five-count amended charge bordering on fraud slammed on him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
He pleaded not guilty to all five counts when the charges were read to him.
He was alleged to have conferred undue advantages on himself between 2016 and 2017 while he was the Executive Secretary.
Additionally, he is alleged to have flouted procurement rules by awarding contracts without following the due process.
Following the plea, Yusuf’s counsel, Mr. O.I. Habeeb, requested that he be remanded in EFCC custody pending the hearing of the bail application, but the trial judge denied the request.
The judge ruled that upon arraignment, custody of the defendant is automatically transferred from the EFCC to the Nigerian Correctional Service.
Consequently, the judge ordered Yusuf’s remand in the Kuje Correctional Centre pending the hearing of his bail application on February 12, 2025.
Persecondnews recalls that Yusuf was relieved of his appointment in 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari following a recommendation for his dismissal by a fact-finding panel set up by the Federal Ministry of Health over alleged mismanagement of N919 million.
The EFCC arrested Yusuf on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, and he subsequently appeared in court on Thursday, January 30, when Justice Nwecheonwu adjourned the case until today, February 3, for arraignment.
The case has been adjourned until February 12, 2025, for the hearing of the bail application.
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