Approve Treatment Within One Hour, NHIA Directs HMOs

Health Management Organizations (HMOs) are required by the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) to grant authorization for patients’ care within one hour of receiving requests from hospitals and other healthcare providers.

According to a statement from the NHIA’s Emmanuel Ononokpono, a spokesperson, the organization’s goals included ensuring that patients receive high-quality healthcare services as well as reducing delays in access to services.

He claimed that the treatment process is still hampered by the delays in obtaining codes and obtaining treatment.

A team of doctors performing surgery on a patient

He claimed that the changes to the authorization of care were first put into effect on April 1, 2025, despite having been approved at a stakeholders’ meeting in February 2025.

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Among the authorisations are:

1. HMOs’ time for requesting authorization to care and issuing authorization codes shall not longer exceed one hour. To help enrollees receive service access delays, health care facilities (HCFs) must submit requests for authorization codes to HMOs right away.

2. Communication of a response that states “no authorization within the hour” where the HMO has valid arguments against not issuing the requested code.

3. keeping up all records regarding all requests and responses from providers and HMOs for treatment authorization.

4. The healthcare providers must proceed with the services provided to the enrollee and immediately notify NHIA if there are delays beyond the one-hour window. The NHIA will check the quality of the services provided.

5. Employers are required to notify the NHIA of any delays or obstacles to timely access to health services as a result of receiving authorization codes that exceed the one-hour limit.

6. Authorization codes must be obtained within 48 hours of receiving treatment in all emergencies, as required by the operational guidelines.

Atiku, Obi, Others In Talks To Join SDP, Says Ex-Presidential Candidate

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former LP candidate Peter Obi are among the prominent politicians negotiating to join the Social Democratic Party (SDP). &nbsp,

Adewole Adebayo, the SDP’s presidential candidate for the 2023 election, claims this.

Adebayo stated that the SDP, which recently welcomed a former Kaduna State governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, is in talks with Atiku and Obi’s men.

“We are welcoming the people who are joining my party. You can tell from the way I greet them. The only small issue with some of them is to alter the culture, which is what it means to be in a society where rules are not taken seriously,” the SDP chieftain said on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics. &nbsp,

We are dealing with that because some of them are engaging in some Boy Scout and black market activities. But we welcome them back. El-Rufai, Atiku Abubakar, and even former governor Peter Obi are all scheduled to visit. We will welcome the arrival of many people.

Adebayo responded to a question regarding whether Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, is joining the SDP, saying, “Such, until someone joins, we don’t know.” However, I’ve been informed that they are speaking, and the Financial Secretary (SDP) has also. So we’ll all be welcome.

People applauded us transparently at our convention in 2022, with no court case, crisis, allegations, and we don’t become a tower of Babel. If we do that, people will follow the rules and allow one person to emerge without question, without cheating, without criminality.

We will defeat the APC and resign President Tinubu to Lagos or wherever he chooses, “if they stick to our culture, follow our approach to the SDP, and produce a good alternative to Nigerians.”

After receiving about six million votes, Obi, who has the support of millions of young Nigerians, came third in the most recent presidential election.

Bola Tinubu, the APC candidate, placed second in the poll taken by Atiku.

Gunmen Kill 13 Vigilantes In Kebbi State

At least 13 vigilante members were killed when Gunmen who are thought to be Lakurawa terrorists attacked Morai village in the Augie Local Government Area of Kebbi State.

After being informed of an imminent attack, a local official, identified as Alhaji Augie, reported to Channels Television that the vigilantes had taken cover in nearby shrubs. The attackers attempted to rustle a herd of cattle, he claimed, when they arrived.

The vigilantes then launched an ambush to avenge the cattle and fend off the attackers.

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He described the Sunday incident as “unfortunately” because they had not realized the terrorists had already surrounded them.

“At least 13 of the attackers opened fire, killing at least 13 of them instantly as the vigilantes moved to stop.” About three kilometers away from ours is the village where the attack took place.

Six bodies have been found, and others have been administered Islamic funeral rites, while the search is still being conducted for the dead.

‘Enough Is Enough,’ NSA Visits Plateau, Promises End To Killings

The Federal Government is determined to find a lasting solution to Plateau State’s ongoing attacks and killings, according to National Security Advisor (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu.

Ribadu made a promise to put an end to the killings while speaking at the state’s Bokkos Local Government Area LGA headquarters in Jos during an operational visit.

In attacks on five communities that left over three hundred houses burned by suspected herdsmen in a week, over fifty people were killed.

The Plateau State Government also made an official visit to some of the affected communities in the form of Samuel Jatau, the governor’s secretary, to find out the extent of the damage and provide relief supplies to the victims.

Adu emphasized the urgency of the Federal Government to stop the ongoing homicides and attacks.

The District Head of Manguna also wants the government to hire more security personnel in the affected areas to stop rural-urban migration in response to the killings.

Also read: Plateau Attack Rises To 52 &nbsp.

The organization’s president

Yohanna Michael, a member of the Hurti community in the area, described how, despite the fact that the search for the missing is still ongoing, over thirty people were interred in a community grave.

More than 700 people were displaced from their ancestral homes, and the government needs to intervene and send more security personnel there to help them return to their homes and continue farming.

FG Is Advised To Step In, ACF Requests.

The recent frightful attacks in the North-Central State have sparked the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)’s outcry.

The socio-political group demanded that the federal government intervene and put an end to the Plateau killings in a statement released on Sunday.

UBA Appoints Abiola Bawuah As First Female CEO For Africa Operations

Abiola Bawuah, CEO, UBA Africa

The Board of Directors of the United Bank for Africa Plc, Africa’s Global Bank, today announced the appointment of Mrs. Abiola Bawuah, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UBA Africa. Bawuah will also join the Group Board as an Executive Director, overseeing the Group’s operations across the African continent, outside Nigeria. UBA operates in 19 African countries beyond Nigeria, in addition to global operations in New York, London, Paris and the UAE. 

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Ado-Odo Set to Host Dignitaries for Final Burial Rites of Olofin Adimula Oodua

Oba Abdul Lateef Adeniran Akanni, Olofin Adimula Oodua of Ado-Odo

Government officials, private sector leaders and Royal Fathers and Chiefs are some dignitaries expected to attend the final passage ceremony and 41-day prayer of the late Olofin Adimula Oodua of Ado-Odo, His Royal Majesty, Oba Abdul Lateef Adeniran Akanni on Saturday, February 19, 2022.

The event, which will have the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, MFR and his Deputy in attendance will hold at Alamuwa Grammar School, Ado Odo, Ogun State.

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