Group Requests Investigation Of Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Former Minister Of Health For Mismanagement And Fraudulent Conversion Of International Fund

Nigerian public officers are in the habit of
exposing the country to international
embarrassment. The country has of late been
in the news for obvious wrong reasons.

With
the latest development being our avaricious public
servants and politicians' insatiability with
misappropriation of local resources and funds which
has plunged our richly blessed country into
underdevelopment and internationally acclaimed
reputation for corruption.

According to Civil Society Network Against
Corruption (CSNAC) in a petition dated
November 19, 2014 and signed by its Chairman,
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization
(GAVI) a ‘public-private’ global health
organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland
launched in 2000, recently granted funds to
Nigerian Government for the procurement of
vaccines and the development of the health sector,
specifically for Nigerian children. The organisation
assists developing countries by providing them with
vaccines and cash support to help protect children.
In a petition addressed to the EFCC Chairman
by CSNAC, the network stated that consequent
upon the grant disbursement, GAVI through its
Cash Program Audit (C.P.A), investigated how
disbursed funds given to Nigeria was spent. Having
investigated cash grants allocated to Nigeria
between 2011-2013, C.P.A came up with an
indicting report of fraud and mismanagement of
funds by the Nigerian government through Federal
Ministry of Health and National Primary Health
Care Development Agency, under the former
Minister.
In response to this discovery, as contained the
CSNAC petition, "the Nigerian government
admitted her culpability through a letter titled
‘Letter of Understanding on the Principles
Regarding the GAVI Cash Program Audit
2011-2013’, dated October 17, 2014 and signed by the
former Health Minister, Professor C.O.
Onyebuchi Chukwu. In a bizarre manner, the
Ministry agreed to return the amount of misused
fund as requested by GAVI. The amount being a
sum of $2.2million. Due to this mismanagement of
funds, GAVI has stop further disbursement of
funds to Nigeria, pending when concrete and
convincing steps are taken to checks ominous
corruption in our health sector."
Nigeria has been receiving support from GAVI
since 2002 and the implication of the organisation's
latest action is that the lives of many Nigerian
children would be endangered by their exposure to
deadly diseases. GAVI is said to have expressed
concerns over possible non remittance of taxes paid
by it to F.I.R.S. It therefore demanded EFCC
investigate the rot in the Nigerian health system.
CSNAC, a network of over 150 groups was by the
petition "requesting an immediate and thorough
investigation into this self-admitted fraud and
mismanagement of fund in the Federal Ministry of
Health; with a view to bringing to justice all those
involved in the exposure of the country to this
international opprobrium and also, ensure the
retrieval of the fund concerned from the purse of
individuals who misappropriated. The network
demands the refund to GAVI should be from
retrieved misappropriated fund and not the
country's coffer.