EFCC recovers N1.4bn ‘trapped’ in banks for NHIS (updated)

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered an additional N1.4 billion for the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

In a statement on Tuesday, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman, said the anti-graft agency transferred the funds to the NHIS on August 5.

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has recovered an additional sum of One Billion, Four Hundred Million Naira (N1.4 Billion) for the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS,” Uwujaren said.

“The money which was released to the NHIS on August 5, 2022, is part of the funds which some commercial banks fraudulently refused to transmit to the Treasury Single Account, TSA, since 2015.”

In July 2021, the EFCC had recovered N5.4billion for the scheme.

“In total, the EFCC has been able to recover about N5.4billion for us out of the N12.085b that has been trapped; this is a monumental achievement and that is why we will ensure that we remain good partners to the EFCC,” Nasir Sambo, executive secretary of the NHIS, had said at the time.

In September 2021, the commission also released N1,300,000,000, said to have been recovered from the banks, to the NHIS.

Similarly, on February 10, 2022, the commission returned N1.5 billion to the NHIS.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that N1.4 billion is the latest sum recovered by the EFCC.