He told the News Agency of Nigeria that each civil servant was registered along with one wife and four children, and explained that any additional dependant would be registered at a lower cost.
Gidado said that each registered civil servant would contribute five percent of his or her basic salary while government was contributing ten percent.
"Both contributions make up 15 per cent of the total contribution, but so far no civil servant is giving out his part of the contribution.
"The state government is shouldering the responsibility of the contributions since the inception of the programme two years ago.
"The turn out in hospitals has increased to about 500 per cent and that money collected but not expended are being used to upgrade standards and facilities in the hospitals," he said.
Gidado also said that civil servants would be charged ten percent of the cost of drugs while expecting mothers and children under age five would receive the drugs free.
NAN interviewed a civil servant, Malama Amina Bello, who said that she had registered with the scheme and was enjoying it, adding that even at a private clinic, the beneficiaries were only paying ten percent of the drug charges.
Another beneficiary, who simply called himself Malam Ado, expressed satisfaction with the scheme, adding that it helped a lot as compared to when one had to pay for everything in the past.
He however said that the scheme was facing some challenges on the issue of 'one wife and four children' only.
When asked about this, Gidado said the issue of registering only one wife and four children under the age of 18 was a western concept. He added that efforts were being made to modify some of the NHIS principles to meet with the peculiarities and cultures of the society.
NAN
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