Usman Yusuf accuses President Tinob of attempting to destroy Nigeria’s democracy.
Nigeria News NalinThe report said that the former executive secretary of Usman Yusuf’s National Health Insurance Plan (NHIS) alleged that President Bola Tinubu’s management planning suppressed opposition voices and critics’ efforts.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Sunday, Yusuf claimed that his recent detention was part of a plan to deliberately intimidate him and other plans to oppose government actions.
The Nigerian news platform recalled that in early February, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) filed a lawsuit against Yousuf on alleged fraud charges. He pleaded not guilty to five charges before Judge Chinyere Nwecheonwu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
In reflecting on his time of detention, Yousof describes his experience at the Cooye Correctional Center as a moment of profound reflection and spiritual renewal.
He said:On January 29 this year, at about 6:30 pm, my wife walked to my room and said some gentlemen knocked on the door and had just walked into the house. They walked into the door and said they wanted to see me, claiming that I was expecting them.
“They said they were from the EFCC and came to take me. I said, ‘You haven’t even introduced yourself yet.’ They quickly took out the badge and confirmed they were from the EFCC.”
The former NHIS boss tells how the operator banned him from changing clothes and stopped his wife from offering him a change.
He added that he was squeezed on the bus by two officers – an armed agent and a young operator, who, according to him, celebrated his captives as if he was a “notorious criminal like Kachalla Bello Turji”.
After spending six days at the EFCC facility, Yousof said he was arraigned in court but denied bail because of a presiding judge. Therefore, he stayed in Kuye Prison for 24 days.
“Denied bail is wrong,” Yousuf emphasized.
“Bail is a constitutional right guaranteed by any defendant, and my case is not unless a capital crime or terrorism occurs.
“This government deliberately denies me bail me.
“The whole purpose is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration attempts to silence any form of dissent.
“This is from a president who was once a Nadko activist, who was a man fighting the military, ran across the border and fled to security.” He said.
Yusuf criticized the government’s current attitude towards freedom of speech and warned that democracy was threatened.
He added:Criticizing the government in a democratic country is the legal right of every citizen. But now, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is trying to stifle dissent and turn Nigeria into a single-party dictatorship. We won’t let this happen. ”
Appointed by the former president Muhammad Buhari Yusuf’s tenure as NHIS boss in 2016 was marked by controversy.
He was suspended by then-health personnel in 2017, and he was suspended again in 2018 by the NHIS board of directors on corruption charges. Yousuf was eventually fired in 2019.
