From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Managing Director and Chief Executive of the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB), Shehu Usman Osidi, has urged the Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development to compel the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) to fulfil their contributions to the bank’s N5 billion capital base.
Osidi made the appeal on Wednesday during his agency’s budget defence meeting with the committee. He lamented that, out of the proposed N5 billion capital base, only N2.56 billion has been paid. Of this amount, N2.5 billion came from the Federal Government, while the Central Bank of Nigeria contributed only N60 million of its N1.5 billion share. The NSITF has yet to contribute its N1 billion share.
Osidi urged the committee to intervene and ensure the seed capital is fully met and that the bank is recapitalised to address the sector’s changing dynamics.
In response, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Aminu Tambuwal, assured that the committee would assist in ensuring compliance by the defaulting agencies, including potentially amending the bank’s establishment Act.