NHIS Must Comply with Financial Regulations, AGF Insists – TheNigerialawyer

The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Ahmed Idris,
Wednesday said the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) is a
public institution and must be subjected to rules of engagement
applicable to public institutions.

He said the agency was also expected to key into all financial
policies with no exemptions, adding that: “If you want to operate
outside the rules, you are to seek approval.”

Speaking when he received the management of NHIS led by the
Executive Secretary (ES), Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo, who paid an
advocacy visit to him, Idris further urged NHIS to get enrolled
into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) as
soon as possible as it remains the only platform to payroll federal
government employees.

The AGF also said the NHIS issues with Aso Savings and Loan
Limited would have been averted if the office of the AGF was
carried along in the transactions.

He said: “Consequently, we need to populate your account
department with treasury officers, otherwise you will face the
consequences of your action.”

In a statement issued by the Deputy Director, Press and Public
Relation, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation
(OAGF), Mr. Henshaw Ogubike, Idris however promised to assist NHIS
to get back its money from the mortgage company, adding that the
issues of merger will be looked at to confirm the truth, stressing
that NHIS should be placed under IPPIS.

The AGF said the OAGF is the main driver of public finance
initiatives for the government like the Treasury Single Account
(TSA), Government Integrated Financial Management Information
System (GIFMIS), a platform for making payment and preparing budget
as well as IPPIS, a platform for paying salaries of federal
government employees and other reform initiatives.

Sambo, however, said that the agency is one of the most
important versatile agencies providing support to the people in
terms of health care.

According to him, the NHIS remains the organ given the
responsibility to handle healthcare in the country.

He noted that the federal government took a drastic decision to
establish a presidential fact finding team in order to improve the
health sector as well as a white paper which involved the Ministry
of Health and OAGF to look into details of the financial situation
of NHIS.

He said that one of the aims of NHIS is to achieve universal
health coverage and also to ensure that the vote of NHIS is viable
to capture the most vulnerable in the society, adding that the
government will not be able to finance the health institution of
the masses alone.

He also appealed to the AGF to help look into the financial
system of the NHIS for the smooth running of the scheme and
realisation of its mandate.