Arabi in his opening remarks reiterated Federal Government’s commitment to drastically reduce the housing deficit which available statistics shows that about 75%-80% of Nigerians are without adequate housing. He lamented that over the years the initiative has not really achieved the desired result due to the cumbersome nature of obtaining loans from Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB) and other Mortgage Finance Houses.

He said that the challenges are multifaceted as Public Servants and Nigerians encounter difficulties in meeting the requirements for obtaining loans, he however noted that it is gratifying that the present Administration has introduced a national action plan tagged Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), 2017-2020 of which adequate housing for Nigerians is one of the core objectives that is aimed at achieving housing for all by year 2020. He also added that the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is piloting a National Housing Programme with construction of houses in all States of the Federation. In furtherance to the housing programme, the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation has also introduced the Federal Integrated Housing (FISH) Scheme to boost the welfare and morale of the Civil Servants by providing them with affordable houses, he added.

The Guest Speaker at the event is the Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Mr. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa who gave a vivid and comprehensive presentation on the various National Housing Fund (NHF) loans and products available at the FMBN.

According to him, the FMBN has the responsibility for the collection, management and administration of the National Housing Fund where all Nigerian workers are expected to contribute 2.5% of their monthly income. This will then qualify them to apply for the housing loan after a period of six months as contributors.

This is coming as a response to the high demands for affordable housing and convenient repayment plan for Civil Servants, especially those who are low income earners. He explained that under the housing programmes, contributors can apply for a loan to

build, renovate or purchase a property of their choice provided they do not default in their contributions. To renovate, the contributor gets a million naira while the building scheme affords him access up to 15million naira payable within a period of 30years.

Dangiwa further explained two major benefits of the NHF scheme where the contributor can access any of the loans at an affordable single-digit interest rate of 6% on conducive terms. He also said that all contributions into the fund are mandatory savings which would be refunded with interests upon retirement.

Recounting on the gains recorded so far by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, the MD declared that over 21.4 Billion naira has been refunded to 216,650 retirees; 18,476 NHF loans granted to contributors with a total credit disbursement of 185 Billion naira emanating from 4,699,503 registered contributors.

The Managing Director however decried the delays widely experienced in the processing of the NHF loans both from the FMBN and primary Mortgage Banks (PMBs). He stated that most of these challenges are due to inappropriate title documents as he equally advocated land reforms to open up more opportunities to the citizens to own houses.

In addition, the Bank CEO gave an insight on the NHF Act which stipulates that NHF mortgage loans are to be advanced only through PMBs also known as the commercial banks specifically meant to finance mortgages.

Fielding questions from the audience, Dangiwa explained that the housing scheme is targeted to suit Public Servants and other contributors’ choice of owning homes in any part of the country provided they have the right title documents for the properties.

Lastly, the Bank CEO emphasized that the screening process for individual Civil servant is usually done by the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board. “Once the process is completed from the Board, the FMBN would release fund at the appropriate time”.