Tinubu Tried to Silence Me with EFCC, Treated Me Like a Criminal – Ex-NHIS Boss Usman Yusuf
Former Executive Secretary of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Professor Usman Yusuf, has accused President Bola Tinubu’s administration of using the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to silence him, alleging he was treated like a criminal for criticizing the government.
Speaking during an interview with Arise Television on Sunday, Yusuf claimed his recent arrest and detention by the EFCC were deliberate moves to intimidate him. “This government deliberately denied me bail to shake me up… all to try and silence me. But I am not someone who can be silenced,” he declared.
In February, the EFCC arraigned Yusuf at the Federal Capital Territory High Court on a five-count charge of alleged fraud. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Recalling the incident, Yusuf said EFCC operatives stormed his residence on January 29 without presenting an arrest warrant. “They entered my home, claiming I was expecting them, and only later showed their badges,” he explained.
He described how he was prevented from changing clothes and how officers blocked his wife from giving him alternative clothing. During his transport to detention, he said he was treated “like a captured notorious criminal like Kachalla Bello Turji,” a well-known bandit leader.
Yusuf spent six days in EFCC custody before his arraignment and was denied bail — an act he labeled unconstitutional. “Bail is a constitutionally guaranteed right for accused persons except for capital offences or terrorism-related charges, and my case was neither,” he argued.
The denial of bail led to Yusuf spending an additional 24 days at Kuje Prison. Despite the ordeal, he described his imprisonment as a period of “retreat for rest, prayers, and reflection,” asserting that the experience only made him stronger.
He accused the Tinubu administration of trying to suppress democratic criticism, warning of efforts to steer Nigeria toward a “one-party dictatorial state.”
Usman Yusuf, appointed NHIS Executive Secretary by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016, was suspended twice between 2017 and 2018 over allegations of corruption and was officially removed from office in 2019.
