NLC, FMBN differ over N238bn public lodging reserve
By Zuleihat Owuiye, Mamos Nigeria
The management of the contributory National Housing Fund has resulted in disagreement between the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.
The NHF is an extension of the NHF Act of 1992, which requires all private and public employers to contribute monthly to the fund.
It is a Federal Government initiative with the goal of raising funds to provide Nigerians with affordable housing.
The labor union’s recent threats that it would withdraw from the contributory funds due to its dissatisfaction with the fund’s management led to the disagreement between the union and the nation’s leading mortgage lenders.
the Gathering Top of the Government Home loan Bank of Nigeria, Mrs Timan Elayo, countered claims made by the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, who told an insightful hearing coordinated by an impromptu advisory group of the Place of Agents, that authoritative bottlenecks during the time spent getting to the home loan plot had made space for debasement in the framework.
As per her, the FMBN had met ‘an enormous number’ of utilizations for the NHF, however couldn’t meet every one of the solicitations because of financing requirements.
She added that various solicitations were denied admittance to contract because of the ineligibility of the candidates.
N15m can’t assemble house in Abuja, Lagos – FMBN
She said, “Gracious indeed, laborers are getting to contract. That assertion is likely coming from the assumption that every individual who needs to get a home loan can get it. If you compare the number of Nigerians who want the houses to the amount of money we have available to distribute, that is impossible.
“You will realize that gathering each request is incomprehensible. To begin, there is a lack of funding that will make it difficult to fulfill requests. Nonetheless, an enormous number are being met however much we can and inside the accessible assets.”
The Public Secretary-General of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, while talking with The PUNCH, couldn’t help contradicting the FMBN’s case that Nigerian specialists were getting to contracts through the NHF.
Onyeka blamed the FMBN for not giving appropriate records of the assets to the expected recipients of the NHF.
“If people are accessing it, who are they?” Onyeka asked. The select few have access to these funds, which are kept somewhere; that is generally the issue. It is our cash. It must be open to us. We should be able to use our money in any way we see fit.
