A former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Prof. Usman Yusuf, has raised concerns over the worsening hunger across the country, accusing state governors of failing to tell President Bola Tinubu the truth about the situation.
Yusuf, who spoke in an interview with Trust TV, said over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s problems were caused by state governors.
“Mr President, if they are not telling you the truth, listen to me, I’m telling you the truth that there is hunger in the land. Whatever they are telling you is not true and your government is not doing anything at all to address this tragedy that is befalling our people in a country of plenty,” he said.
He faulted the Federal Government’s conditional cash transfer programme, saying its impact was not being felt by ordinary Nigerians.
“I heard one of the ministers said that they have given N419 billion conditional cash transfer. Hello, shouldn’t that number make you chuckle? Who did they give it to?” he asked.
Yusuf noted that governors now had access to more funds following the removal of fuel subsidy but alleged that they had little to show in terms of development.
“The President, everybody will commend you after the removal of subsidy, you have enough excess that you keep some in your pocket and you throw some at the governors. The governors have seen a lot more money but there is nothing to show on the ground.
“All they are doing is running around the world, building bridges and building houses all over the world when our people are dying of hunger. This is the reality Mr President and if nobody is telling you the reality, we will continue to raise our voice to awaken the conscience of our people and the world,” he added.
The former NHIS boss said the bulk of Nigeria’s challenges stemmed from the actions of state governors who, according to him, had stifled local government administrations.
“Even during Buhari, I said over 80 percent of our problems in Nigeria all across the geopolitical zones are the governors. It’s not the central government that will provide employment locally to people, it’s the governors that have stifled the local governments all this time. It’s not the Presidency that would build schools or hospitals.
“Where are they taking all this money to? We don’t see any meaningful development. The President has tried to see that local governments are liberated from the shackles of the governors but how much liberation did we get?
“The governors are still holding onto their funds and we don’t see anything,” Yusuf said.
