NHIA DG Vows Tougher Accountability, Says Integrity Key to Better Healthcare

James Emejo in Abuja

Director General, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Dr. Kelechi Ohiri, has called for stronger institutional accountability in the management of public healthcare resources.

He warned that failures in transparency and oversight ultimately undermine access to essential medical services.

Ohiri, who made the observation while receiving an award for commitment to the anti-corruption drive, said the recognition should spur the Authority to strengthen internal controls and ensure that resources deployed to the health sector translate into measurable benefits for Nigerians.

The award, presented by the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), the training and research arm of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), recognises Ohiri’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

He dedicated the honour to NHIA employees and Nigerians, insisting that the recognition was a product of collective institutional efforts rather than an individual achievement.

He stressed that the fight against corruption in the public sector must extend beyond adherence to financial regulations to ensuring that public funds achieve their intended purposes, particularly in healthcare, where inefficiencies and resource leakages can have direct consequences for human lives.

The NHIA boss said accountability in health insurance was especially critical because it determined whether patients could access necessary treatment and whether funds committed to protecting citizens were being effectively utilised.

He said the authority was pursuing institutional reforms designed to close accountability gaps, strengthen operational safeguards and improve the efficiency of its service delivery system.

Among the measures are the digitisation of financial management processes, efforts to clear outstanding audit backlogs, tighter monitoring of healthcare service providers and improvements in complaint-handling mechanisms.

The authority has also intensified capacity-building for its Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit (ACTU) to strengthen preventive oversight and embed greater transparency in its operations.

Ohiri acknowledged that the reforms required coordinated contributions across management, finance, audit, compliance, technical and administrative departments, stressing that institutional integrity must be built into systems rather than depend on the disposition of individual officeholders.

Under Ohiri’s leadership, the NHIA has stepped up efforts to widen insurance coverage, strengthen accountability among healthcare providers and improve access to essential health benefits, with national enrolment now exceeding 23 million Nigerians.

However, expanding coverage and ensuring that enrolment translates into accessible, affordable and quality healthcare remain major challenges for the country’s health insurance system.

The award, therefore, places renewed emphasis on the governance and accountability structures required to sustain the expansion of health insurance and ensure that public interventions deliver tangible improvements in healthcare outcomes.

Ohiri said the responsibility before the Authority was not merely to maintain compliance but to build a system capable of earning public confidence through transparency, efficiency and improved service delivery.