The Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC) has threatened to leave the National Housing Fund program due to the Federal Mortgage Bank’s failure to refund deductions.
Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, made the argument while speaking before the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee probing non-remittance to the NHF and fund utilization from 2011 to the present.
Ajaero informed the committee that the Federal Mortgage Bank has kept civil servants in a state of ignorance about the status of their deductions by failing to send them monthly alerts, urging lawmakers to take drastic measures to remove the impediments to affordable and quality housing for millions of Nigerians, particularly members of NLC who contribute the most to the scheme.
According to him, Ahmed Dangiwa, the bank’s immediate past managing director who is now the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, said he left N120 billion in the bank’s coffers but wondered why most Nigerian workers are still struggling to benefit from the scheme despite this alleged milestone.
In his presentation, Madu Hamman, Managing Director of the National Housing Fund, stated that the total amount of contributions from MDAs from 2011 to date stands at 238 billion naira, with individuals contributing 225 million naira and the ministerial housing scheme receiving 34.5 billion naira in contributions.
Madu asked the committee to give him time to reconcile disputed papers from the ministerial housing pilot plan that were missing from the version presented to legislators.
Dachung Bagos, chairman of the committee, expressed his displeasure with the anomalies in the documents supplied by the managing director, revealing that if lawmakers relied on his presentation, many executives of the Federal Mortgage Bank would be on their way to Kuje prison.
As a result of the MD’s request, the committee adjourned the hearing in order to gather all of the relevant documents.
