In line with the renewed drive to increase the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerian workers, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) plans to commission 1,071 completed houses in eight project sites nationwide.

The housing units are part of the over 3,560 homes under phases 1 & 2 of the National Affordable Housing Delivery Programme.

Group Head, Corporate Communications, Mrs Timan Elayo, in a signed statement said the programme is a collaboration between the FMBN, Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA).

The Programme aims to build and deliver decent, safe, and quality housing for Nigerian workers at a price that they can afford. The house types are based on proven social housing models and comprise one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and three-bedroom units, with prices ranging from N3.1 million to N8.3 million.

The Joint Implementation Committee of the programme, comprising NLC, TUC, and NECA, approved the commissioning exercise at its meeting at the Bank’s headquarters in Abuja on 10th January 2023.

The projects to be commissioned across the 8 include: 100 housing units in Akure, Ondo State, on Monday, 16th January 2023; 100 housing units in Yola, Adamawa State, on Monday, 16th January 2023; 315 housing units in Katsina on Monday, 16th January 2023; 90 housing units in Abakiliki, Ebonyi State, on Thursday, 19th January 2023; 180 housing units in Damaturu, Yobe State, on Monday, 23rd January 2023; 100 housing units in Sokoto, Sokoto State, on Monday, 23rd January 2023; 86 housing units in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Tuesday, 24th January 2023, and 100 housing units in Kogi State on Thursday, 26th January 2023.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of FMBN, Mr. Hamman Madu, expressed delight with the completion of the first batch of the housing units, while applauding the labour centres for their cooperation and support.

“We are excited at the progress that we have made on the National Affordable Housing Delivery Program. Indeed, it is a historic initiative as it marks the first time that FMBN and the organizedlabourand NECA are working together on the basis of a realistic and acceptable framework for delivering affordable housing to Nigerian workers,” Hamman Madu.

The FMBN MD/CE stated that the stakeholder involvement and contributions to the project design makes the programme a fit-for-purpose tool that will deliver houses that workers can afford as part of the overall national efforts toward redressing the huge housing deficit that experts now estimate to be over 22 million housing units.