200,000 retirees get N9bn housing fund refund from FMBN

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has made a refund of over N9 billion to 200,000 retirees who made contributions to the National Housing Fund, established to enable Nigerian workers, especially civil servants own their own houses, according to Ahmed Dangiwa, the bank’s managing director,

Dangiwa said every NHF contributed by civil servants was refundable with interest once they attained 60 years as a high poverty rate of 70 percent has hindered many Nigerians from owning their own houses.

Dangiwa made this known at the Affordable Housing Summit organised by Zvecan Homes and Estate with the theme: “Attracting Foreign and Local Investors, for Housing Construction and Acceptable Business Models for Infrastructure Development and Equity Plan Scheme for Mortgage Financing In Nigeria’’, held on Tuesday in Abuja.

Dangiwa, represented by Oladapo Fakeye, said the summit was critical to bridging housing deficit in Nigeria, as it would generate solutions for the development of Nigeria’s housing sector while he called on the government to prioritise housing for low-income earners as many Nigerians could not afford to own a house.

Abdullahi Abubakar, the governor of Bauchi State said Nigeria needed 700 million houses before 2050 based on the UN projection that population growth will increase to 400 million by 2050.

He noted that Bauchi had a backlog of 600 housing units as many housing projects were abandoned for about 15 years but the abandoned houses had been completed and would be allocated in May and the state plans to address the unemployment challenge through the housing.