The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) says it has gained N294.1 billion as additional contributions to the National Housing Fund (NHF) in five years.
The outgoing Managing Director of the bank, Mr Ahmed Dangiwa, disclosed this in his remarks at a Town Hall Meeting with staff of the bank on Thursday, April 7, 2022, in Abuja.
Dangiwa, whose tenure expires on April 8, was speaking on behalf of his management team. He said the gains made over the five years were as a result of transparency and accountability in the management of the scheme.
“I am happy to note that, in five years, we have mobilised N294.1 billion in additional contributions to the NHF scheme, at an average of N58.8 billion per annum.
“We were able to do this by ensuring transparency and accountability in the management of the NHF scheme, engaging state governments to resume contributions to the NHF scheme.
“We also built strategic partnerships with labour centres such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA).
“We also drove an aggressive campaign that saw historic participation of the informal sector, the self-employed and cooperative societies in the NHF scheme,” Dangiwa stated.
He said other achievements included the disbursement of N175 billion affordable housing loans and construction finance.
“Some of the practical results of these loan disbursements include the provision of NHF Mortgage loans to 5,938 beneficiaries. This represents over 34 per cent increase from the cumulative total of 17,092 beneficiaries as of April 2017.
“There was also the provision of home renovation loans to 77,575 beneficiaries. This represents over 2,926 per cent increase from the 2,579 beneficiaries as of April 2017.
“We also provided affordable construction finance for delivery of 13,499 affordable housing units nationwide. This represents over 59 per cent increase from the cumulative total of 20,435 housing units as of April 2017, when we assumed office.
“The third plank of our achievements is the speedy processing of N39.5 billion in refunds to 247,521 retired NHF contributors,” the outgoing managing director said.
Dangiwa said that the NHF scheme provided for contributors to be paid back their monies after retirement, at a one per cent interest rate.
He said that, as of April 2017, when he came on board, FMBN had only refunded N10.8 billion to 132,605 retired contributors.
The outgoing MD said all the achievements were due to a six-point strategy plan, which included upholding transparency and sound corporate governance culture and implementation of a robust risk management framework.
He listed others as cost containment, aggressive debt recovery, completion of ongoing projects and creation of mortgages to conclude estate funding transactions, as well as strengthening partnerships with regulatory agencies.
According to him, the development of partners and other stakeholders to achieve the bank’s objectives were also part of the bank’s success story during the period under review.
“We also prioritised staff training to boost staff skill sets. We have supported and encouraged staff at many levels to pursue professional development programmes and other incentives,” Dangiwa said.
He said the bank had paid this off in the loyalty, commitment and cooperation of staff in achieving set goals by the bank.
He therefore urged the staff to keep up the momentum because according to him; “despite our achievements, there is still so much more to do’’.
Dangiwa and his team took over the leadership of the bank in April 2017, for a five-year tenure, which expires on April 8.
He took over from Mr Richard Esin, who served in an acting capacity, following the exit of Alhaji Gimba Ya’u Kumo.
By Perpetua Onuegbu
