The Senate Committee on Public Account has queried the National Health Issuance Scheme (NHIS) over N122 billion fixed in an unnamed commercial bank.
The committee also demanded N3.7 billion interest accrued on the money so far was not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
The committee said the query was based on the 2015 report of the Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) in its possession.
However, the Executive Secretary of the NHiS, Nasir Sambo, claimed the NHIS Act empowers the Scheme to earn interest on its investment.
According to him, NHIS Act, part 4, section 11 empowers the Scheme to earn interest on its investment.
The Chairman of the committee, Senator Mathew Uroghide, asked the NHIS to submit the statement of account related to the money by Tuesday.
“The committee is interested in getting the statement of the account. We want to know the details of accrued N3.7bn interest by Tuesday latest, we want the statement of account on the investment,” he said.
The query of Auditor General reads in part, “Investment of N122bn fixed deposit with approval of Auditor General of Federation, interest rate of N3.7bn was not remitted to the Consolidated Revenue Fund.
“Four vehicles of the scheme were taken away by the former officers of the scheme.
“N161 million was for consulting without evidence.”
The NHIS, however, promised to produce the documents supporting the N161 million consultancy fee at the next sitting of the committee.
