Chijioke Agwu, Abakaliki
Ebonyi state government has said it would give the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria(FMBN) the partnership and cooperation it needed to build 100 housing units for civil servants in the state.
Governor David Umahi stated this in Abakaliki at the weekend during the official commissioning of the bank new office complex in Abakaliki, Ebonyi state.
Umahi said housing is one area his administration has not done well, hence the need to cooperate with the bank to ensure the building of low cost houses for workers in the state.
He assured that the state government will make land available for the project soon.
The Managing Director of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Mr. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, earlier in his speech said the bank has a directive from the presidency to construct 100 housing units across the 36 states of the federation.
He said “President of the country ordered us to build one hundred houses in every state of the federation. Once we are given land in every state, we will build one hundred bungalows for the state,” he said.
The MD said the scheme was established to provide affordable mortgages to drive home ownership among Nigerian workers, particularly the low and medium-income earners.
He said this is being done through the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme into which Nigerian workers, both in the public and private sectors contribute 2.5 percent of their monthly income.
“Through this scheme, the bank has continued to provide affordable mortgages to Nigerian workers and construction finance for housing development.
“Our National Housing Fund (NHF) loans, granted at 6 percent, is the most affordable in the country. We also have the FMBN Home Renovation Loan (FHRL) with liberalised conditions for easy access by Nigerian workers while the rent-to-own product and individual construction loan have also been introduced to further facilitate home ownership for Nigerians particularly civil servants”
Mr Dangiwa said the active participation of Ebonyi State workers in the NHF scheme had resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship with the bank.
This, he noted, has led to a grant of housing construction loan of N422m to Ebonyi State Housing Corporation for the construction of 240 housing units of various description out of which 72 units have been completed and occupied.
“The bank has also advanced N621.35m to 1050 members of Ebonyi State workforce under the FMBN Home Renovation Loan product”, he said.