Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Housing and Habitat have called for a review of the Act establishing the National Housing Fund (NHF).
They said the review should include the private sector to address the nation’s housing deficit.
Its Chairman, Mustapha Dawaki, who spoke at the inaugural meeting of the committee in Abuja, said the current Act excludes the private sector, which he described as a critical stakeholders in the nation’s housing needs.
He said: “We have housing deficit in Nigeria. It is only in Nigeria that you see someone who has been working for several years and after retirement does not have a roof over his head.
“It is the work of this committee to make sure that this is corrected. Even if it is the housing Act that has a problem, it should be revisited and we must see how we can make some amendments to it.
“This is to ensure that those who really sacrifice their entire lives working for the country and in other sectors of the economy, at the end of the day, should have roofs over their heads.
“That is why the NHF Act should be revisited to ensure that what is deducted from employees and employers’ contributions should also be a substantial amount, that at the end of the day, when you want to acquire a house, plus the mortgage that the Federal Mortgage Bank will give, it should be able to get you a two or three-bedroom apartment of your own.
“We should use our legislative powers to ensure that whatever we see that will bring progress to the committee and the entire nation, we should not hesitate as a committee to do it”
Supporting the chairman, Ibrahim Almustapha (APC, Sokoto) said: “Housing and habitats translate to shelter. So, we need to make a difference. We need to go further by amending that Act.”
We need to have a housing fund by way of first-line charge. For instance, if a farmer can raise N2,000 income from his farm, he should be able to access this fund.”
