Three firms picked for Federal Government’s project in Abia
Projects
NO fewer than three building and civil engineering firms have been selected to pilot the National Affordable Housing Delivery Programme (NAHDEP) in Abia State.
The programme handled by Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) in collaboration with labour unions- Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and Nigeria Employers Consultative Association will be located at Ubani Ibeku in the state’s capital Umuahia.
Among the developers selected for the scheme are number of developers including Abia State Housing and Property Development Corporation, City Point Global Properties and Investment Ltd and Slogani Properties Limited.
FMBN Managing Director, Ahmed Dangiwa who made the disclosure during the ground breaking ceremony in Umuahia said that the bank has committed over N1.5 billion through its estate development Loan (EDL) product to construct a total of 438 housing units in Abia State.
He said that Abia is being one of the two selected states from the South east zone due largely to its commitment to the NHF scheme. According to him, the pilot phase of the housing units will deliver 1,400 housing units across the six geopolitical zones in the country. Each zone will have 200 houses with 100 units.
He said that the ground breaking event was one in the series for the commencement of collaborative housing projects for Nigerian Workers who are contributors to the National Housing Fund NHF under the
“Through this programme, the bank will be delivering a mix of one, two and three bedroom semidetached bungalows and block of flats with strong focus on affordability and adjustments to suit locational peculiarities”.
In addition, he said that the bank has advanced the sum of N78.5million to 97 NHF contributors under the FMBN home renovation loan.
Dangiwa said the Bank also recently approved the sum of N310 million as Cooperative Housing Development Loan (CHDL) to Central Bank of Nigeria Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society to construct 32 housing units for its members in Abia State.
On estates he classified as non-funded, like Trademore Estate at Ubani Ibeku, the FMBN Chief Executive said that the bank is providing mortgages for interested NHF contributors to acquire the developed housing units even as Mortgages have been approved for 600 civil servants in this regard while more applications were being processed.
Performing the formal ground breaking ceremo- ny, the state governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu described the Federal government housing initiative as very commendable saying that the inclusion of Abia in the pilot project is evidence of federal government confidence in State.
“We will do all the needful to ensure the project is accomplished even ahead of targeted time,”he said.
Chairman of the state’s Joint Public Service Negotiating Council, Chris Okoro, urged the Federal government to monitor the project execution closely to ensure early completion.