The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs Akon Eyakenyi who disclosed this at the 2014 Ministerial Platform hosted by her ministry and the Federal Ministry of Information, said the Federal Government has created the enabling environment for the private sector to take the front seat in the provision of housing for millions of homeless Nigerians.
Eyakenyi who was making her maiden appearance at the Platform having been appointed the Lands, Housing & Urban Development Minister barely seven months ago, however reeled out a plethora of achievements recorded under her watch.
She gave a breakdown of the 43,126 houses which were added to the nation’s housing stock to include 710 units under the prototype housing scheme, 7,869 units under public-private partnerships, PPPs, 3,302 units through FHA and 5,0076 units through FMBN. Similarly, 17,240 units were built using the estate development loans provided by the FMBN while 8,998 units were delivered through contractor-finance initiatives.
The Minister revealed that the sum of N8, 110, 389, 817. 79 was generated by the Ministry as revenue in the last four years. The money which was generated between 2010- 2014, came from various revenue sources which included ground rent, premium on land, title registration fee, consent fee, C of O processing fee and survey fee.
Giving a further break-down of the money generated in each year, the Minister said N932,660,908.11 was generated between May and December 2010, N2,283,000,000.00 in 2011, N1,301,558,726.90 in 2012, N1,704,581,553.14 in 2013 and N1,888,588,629.64 between January to August 2014.
Mrs Eyakenyi said her Ministry has commenced the process of issuing Certificates of Occupancy, Cs of O in respect of the 635 core assets of the successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN to the eleven electricity power distribution companies. Those to benefit from the title document perfection are the DISCOS in Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Kaduna, Kano, Port-Harcourt and Yola.
Other major achievements of the Ministry as reeled out by the Akwa-Ibom State-born Minister include, the revision of the National Building Code to ensure quality and enhanced standards in the housing and urban development sector; the development of a zero-draft National Land Policy which will be validated at a stakeholders’ workshop in the first quarter of 2015; the validation and adoption by stakeholders of a roadmap to guide the housing and urban development sector in the next 30 years and the development of a framework for conducting a National Housing Survey with the overriding goal of establishing whether Nigerians are adequately housed or not.
The Minister said that the survey would also help the Ministry to establish the number of housing deficit in the country instead of relying on forecasts and the quantum of the investment needed to meaningfully address the housing gap.
She reiterated her resolve to collaborate with the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to deliver 10,000 housing units in different parts of the country through funds provided by the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company, NMRC. “While the Federal Ministry of Finance through the NMRC is handling the demand side of the provision of 10,000 mortgages as a pilot scheme, the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development is facilitating action on the delivery of 10,000 housing units that the mortgage facility of the NMRC will support,”she said.
On building materials affordability, Mrs Eyakenyi said a building material concession initiative has been entered into by her Ministry and building/construction materials producers and suppliers with a views to bringing down the cost of housing development in the country. Under the initiative, the Federal government will grant tax relief and concessions to these producers/suppliers
On public buildings, she disclosed that apart from efforts being made to rehabilitate and maintain 23 existing Federal Secretariats, the Federal government through her Ministry is constructing six new secretariats at the cost of N15.284 billion.
In his remarks, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku said the Goodluck Jonathan administration looks at housing as a people-driven sector where the government will create the enabling environment for the private sector to come in and tap into the huge potentials in the sector. According to him, the housing sector has contributed significantly to the growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP.
Maku who said President Jonathan has begun a revolution in the housing sector by providing the enabling policies and frameworks for the private sector to play the leading role, however warned against cutting of corners in the construction of houses as such measures contribute to the rising occurrence of collapsed buildings in the country.
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