The Federal Government has called for a review of the land use act to meet current realities.
It said part of the administration’s priority areas include social inclusion, which means empowering the poor through the provision of shelter and the inability of federal agencies to readily access land in states to build housing units poses a difficulty.
Minister of State for Works and Housing, Mu’azu Sambo, stated this when he visited the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) headquarters in Abuja.
He said the government wants to provide adequate houses for Nigerians.
He said there were many reforms that had been tried in other jurisdictions and they had worked.
He added that easy access to land would lead to easy access and provision to houses. “The Land Use Act is a challenge because under the Act, all land, are under the administration of the state government. Now here is a Federal agency that wants to develop houses for low and middle income earning Nigerians and it does not have land, meaning we are at the mercy of the various state governments.
“That is why I say again that there is the need for us to take a look at the Land Use Act and make it easy. We can have reforms. There are various reforms that have been tried in other jurisdictions and they have worked successfully, easy access to land will lead to easy access and provision to houses.
He urged the management of the FHA to try put together an put together a position paper that can be used to canvass the appropriate authorities for a return of the Authority to appropriation because the FHA was established to cater to a particular segment of the society.
Managing Director/Cheif Executive FHA, Sen. Gbenga Ashafa, recalled that the FHA used to enjoy government’s funding through budget appropriation to finance Social/Affordable Housing projects.
“But subsequently, the Authority was removed from Budget since 2004. This scenario has created unimaginable stress on the Authority’s finances through IGR which is presently the only source of funding.”