By Tony Akowe, Abuja
The Management of the Federal Housing Authority on Wednesday told the House of Representatives Committee on Housing and Habitat that its supervising ministry, the federal Ministry of Works and Housing hijacked its assigned responsibility of driving the National Housing project.
The agency also told the House Committee that since it was commercialised in 2005, the federal government has not been funding the organisation as there has been no budgetary allocation to it for its operation.
Acting Managing Director of the FHA, Umar Sabiu Gonto who spoke at an interactive session with members of the Committee that said the act setting up the agency mandated it to drive the process of National Housing Scheme, adding that at the moment, the Ministry has taken over that role and was now driving it.
Sabiu Gonto said as a result of the takeover of the functions of the agency by the ministry, it had to engage itself in developing commercial mass housing for Nigerians, but lamented that it is confronted with series of challenges in its attempt to achieve the mass housing programme.
According to him, most state government have refused to allocate land to the agency within or close to the city centres, but always allocate land to them outside the cities, making it difficult for them to sell the houses built on such lands.
He said further that currently, the agency was planning a housing scheme for Nigerians living in the diaspora in collaboration with developers, adding that the FHA is discussing with the Nigeria Diaspora Commission and the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation to gain their confidence so that they can buy into the project.
The FHA Chief Executive lamented the lack of funding for the agency, stressing that the commercial housing it is currently building and selling is what has been sustaining it and asked the lawmakers to assist it in getting back into the national budget.
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He said “we submitted our budget to our supervising ministry when the call circular went out. But unfortunately, we were called by the ministry of finance to defend our proposal. We are appealing that you help us get back into the budget.
“We also appeal that you help us amend the Act setting up the agency. It was enacted in 1973 and since then, it has not been amended. That act gives us the responsibility of driving the National Housing Project which, like I said is not handled by our supervisory ministry.
He also disclosed that the FHA was working on building houses for Internally Displaced Persons in Borno state.
On the Apo Housing project, he told the lawmakers that the project was not abandoned as being reported; adding that the delay in the completion of the project was as a result of the pending court case, but assured that the project will soon be completed.
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