Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Ahmed Idris has warned the new Executive Secretary of National Health Insurance Fund (NHIS) Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo never to deviate from extant rules governing public service finance.
Speaking when Sambo led a team of the Scheme to his office at the Treasury House, Abuja on an advocacy visit, Idris said NHIS was a public institution and must be subjected to rules of engagement as far as public institution is concerned.
The institution was expected to key into all financial policies “with no exemption and if you want to operate outside the rules, you are to seek approval.”
Office of Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) is the driver of a number of public finance initiatives for the government like the Treasury Single Account, TSA, Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS), a platform for making payment and preparing budget as well as Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS), a platform for paying salaries of Federal Government employees and other reform initiatives, he explained.
Idris then advised his guests enrol into IPPIS soonest as it is the only platform to payroll Federal Government employees.
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Deputy Director Press & Public Relation at OAGF, Henshaw Ogubike in a statement reported AGF to have added that the office equally services the economy in terms of making releases to the three tiers of Government, namely, Federal, State and Local Government and every other thing that revolves around resources.
AGF posited that their investment request should be made known; accommodation in TSA is so robust by working side by side with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and discouraged them from investing in banks for now because of the bank rates.
NHIS issues with Aso Savings and Loan Limited would have been averted if OAGF was carried along in the transactions. Consequently, we need to populate your account department with Treasury officers, otherwise, you will face the consequences of your action.
AGF promised to assist NHIS to get back their money from Aso Savings and Loans Limited and that the issues of the merger will be looked at to confirm the truth, stating that NHIS should be placed under IPPIS.
Speaking earlier, Sambo described NHIS is one of the most important versatile agencies providing support to the people in terms of health care.
“In every developmental agenda, global health is important,” he stated, hence NHIS is the organ given the responsibility to handle health care in Nigeria.
He said that the Federal Government took a drastic decision to establish a presidential fact-finding team in other to improve health sector as well as a white paper which involved the Ministry of Health and Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation to look into details of the financial situation of NHIS.
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