By Musa Adamu
The Senate on Thursday mandated its Committee on Housing to urgently work out modalities with the various stakeholders in the National Housing Development sector to ensure the implementation of affordable housing for the poorest Nigerians.
The resolution was reached after consideration of a motion on the “Urgent need to reform the Housing Policy and Mortgage Financing in Nigeria to meet the escalating housing demand in the country.”
Sponsor of the motion, Albert Bassey Akpan, said low and middle class income earners constitute the largest active population in Nigeria.
This population, according to him, finds it difficult to have access to housing in their lifetime.
He recalled that the creation of the National Housing Fund through the National Housing Fund (NHF) Act of 1992 was specifically intended to cater for Nigerians in line with the various Housing policies and International Conventions and Treaties to which Nigeria is a signatory.
Akpan stated that by virtue of the provisions of the NHF Act, a working class Nigerian is required to contribute 2.5 percent of his or her monthly salary to the fund which provides the source of funding to the Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs).
