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Organised Labour under the platform of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has expressed worry that the pronouncement of the Secretary to the Government of Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, to the effect that members of Boards of Government Agencies and Parastatals cannot sanction the Chief Executives of such organizations was a license for further impunity, lawlessness, and corruption by such public officers.
In a press statement issued in Lagos yesterday, the ASCSN Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, enjoined President Muhammadu Buhari, to call the SGF to order so as not to further daint the anti-corruption war of his administration.
The ASCSN Secretary-General wondered where in the world do Board Members of Government Agencies and Parastatals stand arms akimbo as mere spectators while the Chief Executives under them turn such organizations into private estates running them as slave camps, indulging in financial recklessness without the Supervisory Boards calling them to order.
“Mr. Mustapha’s announcement is an invitation for unbridled corruption to continue to thrive under President Buhari who has vowed to stamp out graft in the society particularly in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
“How then can the SGF be encouraging Chief Executives of Government Agencies and Parastatals to be operating as emperors, fiddling with public finances without statutory checks and balances provided by members of the Boards of such organizations,” the Union wondered.
The ASCSN regretted that it is this type of mindset that has made the Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, to continue to insist that he cannot report to the Minister of Health nor the Governing Council of the Agency but only to President Buhari.
It noted that Section 8(3) of the National Health Insurance Scheme states clearly that “the Executive Secretary shall, subject to the general direction of the Council, be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Scheme”.
Section 13(1) also stipulates that, “The Council shall cause to be prepared, not later than 30 September in each year, an estimate of the expenditure and income of the Scheme during the next succeeding year and when prepared, they shall be submitted to the Minister for approval.”
“The Council shall cause to be kept proper accounts of the Scheme and proper records in relation thereto and when certified by the Council, the accounts shall be audited by auditors appointed by the Council from the list and in accordance with the guidelines supplied by the Auditor-General for the Federation.
“Where then did Mr. Mustapha get the idea from that the NHIS Executive Secretary, Professor Usman Yusuf, should run the Agency like a sole administrator, breaking all rules and norms, indulging in all manner of financial recklessness without the Governing Council questioning him and suspending him where necessary,” the Union wondered.
The ASCSN, therefore, stressed the need for the Presidency to issue a disclaimer on the SGF’s pronouncement in order to redress the wrong signals already sent to Executive Secretaries and Directors-Generals of Government Agencies and Parastatals that they have a license to be lawless and indulge in impunity without members of the Boards checking their excesses in the interest of the public service.
