The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), recently in a presentation before the House of Representatives’ Ad-hoc Committee on Non-Remittance to the National Housing Fund (NHF) and Utilisation of the Funds from 2011 till date, threatened to pull out workers from the NHF contributory scheme because of the non-remittance of deductions made by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
NLC president, Comrade Joe Ajaero said the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) had failed to send alerts to civil servants on the amount workers contributed to the scheme and their monthly deductions.
He advised lawmakers to take drastic steps to remove the encumbrances to affordable and quality housing to millions of Nigerians, especially workers who make the highest contributions to the NHF.
The labour leader stated that the immediate past managing director of FMBN, Ahmed Dangiwa, who is now the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, had said he left behind N120 billion in the coffers of the bank.
“He (Dangiwa) said he was able to mobilise N249.1 billion to Nigeria’s housing fund, and increased subscription to 197,000 between 2017 and 2022,” Ajaero noted.
He said in spite of making the statutory contributions of 2.5 per cent of their annual salary to the NHF, many workers were unable to access the loan due mainly to administrative bottlenecks.
“While the Act provides for 90 days from the date of application for the loan to disbursement, the experience by many workers are horrific as the undue delay in approving the loans force many workers to abandon pursuit of the loan”, he said.
He said many resort to third party agencies to fast track the loan application at unofficial fees, creating perception of corruption in the process of housing loan approval and disbursement to workers who need the funds.
Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, said the allegations of non-remittance to the National Housing Fund were grievous and must be investigated.
The Speaker who was represented by his deputy, Hon. Benjamin Kalu asked members of the Committee to be guided by the principle of fairness, equity and diligence as they discharge their mandate.
