Minister of health of refuse to honour House of Reps invitation

The minister of health, Isaac Adewole has written to the house of representatives, explaining the reasons why he would not honour the invitation of the lawmakers.

Adewole was summoned by the house committee on healthcare services  for suspending Usman Yusuf, executive secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The lawmakers had earlier asked the minister to reinstate Yusuf but when he refused to obey, they summoned him.

Adewole in letter to the house attributed his absence to two reasons: his scheduled visit to Osun, and his decision not to thwart the outcome of the panel investigating Yusuf.

While regretting his inability to attend the meeting, the minister promised to make the outcome of the investigation known to the lawmakers.

“Mr Chairman, may I inform you that the federal ministry of health with the approval of the acting president and head ofservice is currently conducting an administrative panel of enquiry on NHIS including the suspended executive secretary – Professor Usman Yusuf,” the letter addressed to John Okafor, chairman of the committee, read.

“I am expecting that in a couple of days, the committee should submit her report to my office. Secondly, I have committed myself to a national programme as part of the stakeholder’s meeting including the executive governor of Osun. The programme is being supported by the Engender Health and beneficiaries are expected from all over the country.

“In the light of the above, I wish to respectfully crave your indulgence to be excused from the meeting of 27th July 2017 to avoid making any statement that will affect the outcome of the committee and also attend the programme that I already planned. I promise to share and discuss the outcome of the administrative panel with you when I receive the final report.”