The arraignment of Prof. Usman Yusuf, the former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme, has been postponed till Monday, February 3, 2025 by the Federal Capital Territory High Court in Kuje.
Yusuf was taken before Justice Chinyere E. Nwecheonwu on Thursday for his planned arraignment on fraud charges after being taken into custody by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Wednesday, January 29, 2025. To allow for a charge change, the court did, however, postpone the case.
This was disclosed in an EFCC statement on Thursday.
Defense attorney Isah Dokto Haruna, who represented lead attorney O.I. Habeeb, SAN, requested bail for the defendant during the brief session; however, the judge denied the motion because of the delayed arraignment.
“Yusuf must stay in EFCC custody until his next court appearance because, according to Justice Nwecheonwu, “bail at this stage is premature in the absence of a formal arraignment.”
When the former head of NHIS is formally arraigned on February 3, 2025, the case is scheduled to resume.
Yusuf was arrested by EFCC agents for allegedly giving contracts to family members while he was in government.
Yusuf was also charged with approving payments that exceeded his approval limit and inflated the scheme’s ICT budget from N4.975 billion to N8.7 billion.
Our correspondent was informed by reliable commission sources that the former head of NHIS was taken into custody on Wednesday evening and would be arrested on Thursday.
Dele Oyewale, the Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, confirmed Yusuf’s detention when reached but declined to say further.