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Jonathan seeks NMRC, FMBN partnership for affordable housing

By on February 15, 2014

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Thursday in Abuja restated the critical importance of housing to the economy of any country, has said.

The President who made the declaration Thursday at the official commissioning of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Aviation Village, and the launching of the NHF e-Card, expressed joy at the number of practical steps the present administration has taken in resolving the housing problems in the country since the Presidential  Retreat held in December 2012.

President Jonathan said he expects a strong collaboration between the newly established Nigerian Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC) and the FMBN will stimulate affordable mortgage financing to reduce the cost of housing in Nigeria.

He said, “We are moving forward as a nation in our quest to reduce the housing deficit in Nigeria and I wish to commend FMBN for successfully delivering this project through the Estate Development Loan granted Sun Trust Investments.

“Our economic programme as a government is to provide the enabling environment for the private sector to drive the economy and not to play a monopoly”

“What make changes are the little things we do that makes a big difference. Our policies should be workable and sustainable and our ability to recreate and replicate them across the country is what makes the difference.

He expressed the total commitment of the present administration to create jobs and provide quality and affordable housing to Nigerians adding that the commissioning is an indication of the commitment of government to collaborate with the private sector in housing delivery.

In his speech, Managing Director of FMBN, Kimba Ya’u Kumo commended the President on his commitment in ensuring that the current housing deficit which now stands at 17million is reduced drastically in the nearest possible time.

Kumo announced that since the introduction of the National Housing Fund (NHF) collection to the fund has improved by more than 500 per cent and has also assisted to ensure transparency and accountability.

He said, “The NHF e-Card being launched today is a huge step forward in delivering the advantages of speed, accuracy, transparency, accountability and superior customer experiences to NHF contributors.

‘Mr. President would be pleased to know that we have begun to harvest the benefits of the NHF e-Collection Platform, especially in the volume of NHF collections. For instance, the rate of NHF collections rose significantly from about N700 million to over N2.2 billion per month. We estimate a further 100 per cent increase in monthly collections to achieve about N4 billion per month before the end of Year 2014.

“The bank in June 2013 launched the NHF e-Collection Platform to ensure proper record-keeping, transparency and accountability for NHF collections. The platform prevents the flagrant violation of the NHF Act and unlawful practices by employers who fail to effect statutory deductions, remit deductions to the FMBN or provide remittance schedules by which contributors’ monies are easily misappropriated.

 

 

[Daily Independent]