Abuja — Officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, yesterday in Abuja, prevented Policemen from arresting the Permanent Secretary, Linus Awute and other top officials of the Ministry over the management of the N1.9 billion Ebola fund.
Daily Independent findings showed that the plain clothe Policemen arrived the ministry's premises at about 1pm to arrest Awute and two others. Reliable sources told Daily Independent in Abuja, that other officials penciled down for the arrest in connection with the Ebola fund included Chief Executive Officer/National Coordinator of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Prof. Abdulsalam Nasidi, Mr. John Akintunde Kehinde, Director, Emergency Health Response and one Dr. Joshua Obasanya, team leader of the Nigerian Volunteers and Deputy Head of the ASEOWA Mission. Obasanya is out of the country on official assignment, just like Prof Nasisdi.

Kehinde was picked from his office and brought to the third floor with the intention to arrest the Perm Sec, who was not in his office at the time. As the drama began to unfold, Kehinde insisted that he was not going to follow them unless the Police team obtained permission from his boss. Workers of the Ministry however prevented the Policemen from whisking him away as they followed them to the car park and also blocked their movement.

At a point, the workers ordered the private security guards to lock the gates.
While this was going on, Mr. John Eleke, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) attached to the Federal Secretariat approached the team from the Police Headquarters and pleaded that they allow the arrest go through a proper channel so as not to give room for chaos. The police team led by one Inspector Adamu from the Analytical Tracking and Interception unit under the Inspector General of Police (IGP) monitoring team, accused the officials of refusing to honour an earlier invitation to answer to some allegations. The police team, Daily Independent findings showed, is acting on allegations filled against the officials by Dr. Davidson George, which bothered on fraud and mismanagement of the N1.9 billion ebola fund.
A 15-paged document obtain by reporters gives a complete breakdown of how the amount which said to be spent.
According to the document, the procurement of isolation tents, gulp the sum of N900 million.

Also, an expenditure payment voucher dated 11/8/2014 being personal advance granted one Musa A.A, was initiated by Mr. Kehinde John Akintunde, Director, Environmental Health, head of health emergency response and disaster for the release of N28.22 million for the decontamination of First Consultant hospital, Obalende, Lagos.
Nasidi, the document indicated, withdrew N63,581,250 claiming it was meant for pre-departure training of Nigerian volunteers who left the country on December 5th, 2014 for Liberia and Sierra Leon.
However, the document claimed that the African Union Commission paid for all the expenses.
The document also claimed that on 23/12/2014, N30,769,000 million was withdrawn from the Ebola account. The payment was made to Musa A Musa in Abuja and was claimed to be for a treatment research group on Ebola. A breakdown of the expense, showed that Prof. Nasidi collected N250,000 as local running per kilometer. He also collected N216,000 for airfare for a meeting which held within Nigeria and N375,000 as sitting allowance.

Amidst angry reactions trailing the unavailability of the N1.9 billion released by President Goodluck Jonathan for the management of Ebola, the Health Minister, Onyebuchi Chukwu, has denied the money was for the management of the virus.
Mr. Chukwu’s denial came Tuesday despite an official statement from the federal government to the contrary.
On August 8, at the peak of the Ebola crisis, the president, in a press release signed by Reuban Abati, announced the release of N1.9 billion as a Special Intervention Fund for the management of Ebola.
“President Jonathan also approved a Special Intervention Plan and the immediate release of N1. 9 billion for its implementation, to further strengthen on-going steps to contain the virus such as the establishment of additional isolation centres, case management, contact tracing, deployment of additional personnel, screening at borders, and the procurement of required items and facilities.
“The President commends the vigilance of aviation and health authorities in Lagos who identified and isolated the index case in Nigeria, the late Patrick Sawyer, an American-Liberian who flew into the country,” the statement read.
On Tuesday, however, Mr. Chukwu denied that the money was released for the management of Ebola. The Minister of Health said the money was approved for the Ministry of Health.
“The N1.9billion approved by the president was for the federal ministry of health. It is not for Ebola fund. It will be used to procure more vehicles for working which have been ordered. It would be used to procure more drugs that have been ordered…and other items.
“In the case of Lagos state, after the president met commissioners of health, the president then asked the minister of health to discuss with the technical people and money has been approved for Lagos state,” he said.
He further stated that though the world is at risk, the federal ministry of health is ready to face any outbreak.
“Excellence is a journey, it’s never a destination. The federal ministry of health is ready to face any outbreak.
“Every country and every citizen of the world remains at risk but Nigeria is on top of the situation so we don’t want people to panic. We should be in charge but not panic” he said.
The Lagos State government had complained that it did not receive the funds released for the management of Ebola despite being the epicentre of the management of the infection in the country.

allafrica.com/stories/201506110573.html

Face-off between Medical Director of Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Owerri, Dr. Angela Uwakem, and health workers took another dimension yesterday when they accused the Federal Ministry of Health of covering Uwakem’s misdeeds.
They also accused some top officials of the ministry in Abuja of trying to cover up alleged financial mismanagement by the medical director.
The health workers under the aegis of three major unions of FMC Owerri, had embarked on a month’s strike over demand for the Medical Director’s suspension for alleged gross financial misconduct and highhandedness.
Reacting to the statement credited to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr. Linus Awute, on the ongoing industrial action, the unions questioned the delusion of transparency and procedural virtues tenable in public services, stressing that the permanent secretary had started taking sides with Uwakem “whose record on financial recklessness is marginally heart-breaking.”
The unions comprise National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, NANNM: Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, and Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals, NUAHP. In a letter addressed to Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Abuja, titled, ‘Re: FG to Sanction Striking Health Workers; Says Disruption of Services Act of Hooliganism’ and signed by its chairmen and secretaries, the unions reminded the ministry officials that the unavoidable strike was not the wish of the workers, but to press home issues that affect their collective interest and that of the citizenry.
“The three unions resolved after a congress on June 4 to refute points raised by your office to trample on the workers’ right to live; right to peaceful assembly; right to peaceful protest; right to suggestions; right to solutions and right to leadership as enshrined in relevant extant laws and rules of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” they stated.
SOURCE: http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/scam-health-ministry-protecting-fmc-md/

Ebola fund kwa

Naija I salute una.

Oil money. missing
Church money Missing
Bride price money. Missing

Why not declare naija missing.

...

......

Corruption everywhere. Imagine Nigerians shielding a thief from arrest.

Well, he should sleep in the office and never come out. He'll definitely answer to his role in the sleaze.

There is a fundamental problem with the average Nigerian, once you PDP (new word for "share the money " )to their side they will abet in stealing from Govt purse and wipe their conscience with excuses such as "Na our money or Na our turn to chop after all politicians dey thief or Na our oyel".

And tomorrow they'll cry corruption is killing us. Hypocrites! Bloody Hypocrites.

If money is not missing at the federal government level, then it's missing at the state level and if by chance it's not missing at that level then certainly at the local government level or community level or somebody is mismanaging it in one government functionary.

All Govt owned utilities suffer the same thing. This is man's injustice to man and when you choose to toe the line of integrity you're labeled with the title, "Holy pass".

Tomorrow when those involved in this crime start to face the music, they'll start crying before Nigerians to gain sympathy or blame it on the devil.

"They shielded him from arrest", probably because they ate from the forbidden fruit. Smh