Magnus Eze, Abuja
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) plans to spend about N13billion on one of its special products; the workers’ home renovation loan scheme in 2018, Managing Director of FMBN Ahmed Dangiwa has said.
This was even as the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), has called on the Buhari administration to fund the Federal Government’s Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB), while also pushing for the recapitalisation of the FMBN.
Dangiwa, who spoke to newsmen, shortly after the monthly tripartite meeting between the two labour centres-Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade TUC, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and the bank in Abuja, said at least 13,000 workers would benefit from the scheme this year.
“There are civil servants that don’t need the mortgage loan but they have their houses that they would need some upgrade; so we felt that instead of excluding them, we could find some micro financing which people could come over and get loan of N1million to renovate their houses. Those who don’t need that can come for the main NHF loan.
“We have disbursed over 6,000 home renovation loans; even last year, 2017, we disbursed N6.5 billion. We are budgeting N13billion this year for that and if you target N13billion at N1m per beneficiary, you can see the number of people that would be reached; up to 13 million people will access it,” Dangiwa stated. He emphasised that there cannot be mortgage without houses on ground; hence, the Bank in consultation with stakeholders had come up with plans to either develop affordable houses or source for cheaper low income houses to deliver to Nigerian workers.
Meanwhile, TUC President, Bobboi Kaigama, has dismissed calls on the National Assembly to accommodate the channelling of 50 per cent contribution of federal civil servants to the National Housing Fund and the Staff Housing Loans Board in the ongoing amendment of the Act.
“Two of them are working for Nigerian workers; the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board is only servicing Federal Government workers, while the FMBN is servicing Federal Government, State government, Local Government and the private sector workers including the formal and informal sectors.”
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