The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Managing Director, Ahmed Dangiwa, on Monday in Katsina, disclosed that the bank had so far ‘given out over N297.7bn under its various windows’ in the National Housing Fund scheme.
He also disclosed that the bank had refunded a cumulative sum of N41.1bn to 353,519 beneficiaries who had exited the scheme due to retirement from service.
Dangiwa made the disclosure while speaking at a one-day sensitisation programme on the NHF for the employees of Katsina State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees.
He said, “You will recall that the National Housing Fund Scheme, established by Act 3 of 1992, was created to serve as a pool of long-term funds for housing delivery, funded by 2.5 per cent of workers’ monthly income and mandatory investments of percentages of the business portfolios of banks and insurance companies.
“I am pleased to inform you that despite the limited resources at its disposal, the scheme has performed creditably well. The bank has given out over N297.7bn under its various windows while creating 30,719 new homes and 22,416 mortgages for Nigerians in the process.
“A cumulative sum of N41.1bn has also been refunded to 353,519 beneficiaries who have exited the scheme due to retirement from service.
“A sum of N50bn has also been disbursed under the FMBN Home Renovation Loan window to 67,448 beneficiaries as at May, 2021.
“We currently have a contributor base of 5.2 million while 34 of the 36 states of the federation are compliant regarding workers’ contributions.”
Dangiwa said a larger part of the milestones was achieved during his tenure, beginning from April, 2017.
He said, “We increased the number of the participating states from 28 to 34 and grew NHF collections from N232bn to N466bn, an increment of about 100 per cent. “Loan disbursement during our current tenure also grew by more than 85 per cent to N297.7bn from N152bn in 2017 while the housing stock increased from 20,435 to 30,719. Refund to retired contributors grew by 275 per cent from N 10.8bn to N42bn.”
According to Dangiwa, FMBN had also funded twelve estate development projects in the sum of N6.2bn for the construction of 1,358 housing units in Katsina State.
He added, “We have also advanced N5.1bn to 6,537 beneficiaries under the FMBN Home Renovation Loan window in the state.
“The state has also benefitted from our collaboration with the labour centres, namely, the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association to develop 100 housing units in each state of the federation under the National Affordable Housing Delivery Programme.”
The FMBN Chief Executive, nonetheless, agreed that there was still a lot of work to be done in addressing the housing needs of Nigerians.
The Katsina NULGE President, Nasiru Maiadua, in his remarks at the occasion, said the NHF was a veritable policy to address the huge housing deficit in the country, and implored members of the union to actively participate in the scheme.
Source: Punch
