National Housing Programme: We have  received over 7000 applications  Within Seven days- Fashola Works and Housing Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola  SAN, has revealed that 7315 applications have so far been received for the purchase of the Federal government's National Housing Programme within the first week of launching the online portal. Fashola who was speaking before the Senate Committee on Housing, Thursday, November 18th, 2021, declared " As at today, 7315 applications have been received so far and the number is still growing." The Minister explained that the Ministry had been working and  progress at selling the  houses to the public had been recorded, hence the online platform was launched inorder to be open and transparent in the sale of the houses and avoid unnecessary interference by some vested interests. Fashola stated that the categories of the houses are different from what is available in the open market. Fashola who noted that the type of houses being  offered for sale were  generous interms of space added that one bed room is 60sqm, 2 bedroom 76sqm and the 3 bedroom has 110sqm pointing out that the size is  larger than what is obtainable in other developers On the prices, Fashola  said, " There are 1,2, 3 bedrooms, some of which are bungalows while others are flats. The minimum house is N7.2m and the highest is about N16m " Fashola stated that  the Ministry carried out a survey to come up with the type of houses Nigerians desire to live in to avoid the unfortunate incidence in the past where some houses that were built were at variance with the peoples need. Speaking on the rational behind launching of the online portal for intending buyers of  the houses, he said " our thinking is based on experience and what we think is right. This is a digital age. If we buy air ticket and book hotels through the internet we believe we could do the same in applying for the houses." He however added that the system may not be perfect just like every other human endeavour but the Ministry had done what is believed to be best practice  at the moment. On the requirements for purchase, the minister listed ; passport photographs, tax clearance and means of clear identification, N10 thousand application fee amongst others. He also stated  that it is not possible for one to buy more than one house. On why the prices of some  of  these houses differ in different states, Fashola cited difference in topography and cost of building as the  determining factors,  as the cost of building houses in Bayelsa for example is higher than doing same  in Osogbo. While responding to question on the affordability of the houses, the Minister said, "Affordability is not just a  function of the cost but also the mode of payment, that is why we have created the rent  to own option of payment." he said. The Senate Committee Chairman on Housing, Senator Sam Egwu, commended the Honourable Minister on his commitment to the housing delivery for Nigerians. ...

Fashola Inaugurates 3 More Executive Directors For FHA Charges Them To Live Up To Expectations Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, SAN has inaugurated executive directors of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) with a call on them to live up to expectations in the discharge of their duties. The inauguration of the three executive directors was done at the main Conference room at the headquarters of the Ministry in Mabushi, Abuja, Tuesday November 16th, 2021, brings to five the number of Exevutive Director of FHA. Urging the new directors to vigorously avail themselves to the task ahead and work diligently to achieve them, Fashola listed the task as; estate development, Housing development and maintenance of the existing estates of Federal Housing Authority, pointing out the imperativeness to ascertain all the assets owned by the Authority. He further explained that having a list of all the assets belonging to Federal Housing Authority would enable Federal Government meet the housing needs of Nigerians. The Minister said, "The FHA has been repositioned to serve Nigerians in the area of housing delivery. We have taken steps to reposition the Federal Housing Authority to further deepen its ability to deliver service to Nigerians in terms of housing. One of the first thing that we did was to get Mr. President to approve the appointment of additional three executive directors which inauguration we do today". " The board used to have two executive directors but to achieve improved service delivery and asset maintenance, a recommendation and Presidential approval was sought to increase the number" he said. Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Babangida Hussaini, encouraged the FHA directors to work together, to re-organize and improve service delivery to Nigerians in terms of housing delivery. Responding on behalf of the newly inaugurated Directors, Mrs Hauwa Babakobi, the Executive Director, Estates Services pledged their readiness to work actively and effectively as a team towards the realization of thee objectives of the Federal Housing Authority. The newly inaugurated directors were; Mrs Hauwa Babakobi Mohammed as the Executive Director, Estate Services, Mrs. Adama Kure as the Executive Director, Housing and Finance and Engineer Chinoso Sam Omole as Executive Director Project Implementation. The new board has captured the six geo-political zones of Nigeria; it is gender friendly and an assembly of brilliant Nigerians who have vast experiences in various aspects of sectors. Among others, the Executive directors are responsible for planning, and coordination of operational activities for their organization and are responsible for formulating policies and strategies to meet goals of the organization. The FHA is a key agency under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, charged with the responsibility for the preparation of proposals for National Housing Programmes; execution of such housing programmes as may be approved by Government, and development and management of real estates on both commercial and profitable basis in all states of the Federation   ...

National Housing Programme: Nigerians Invited To Apply As Fashola Launches Portal For Sale Of Houses  ·      Over 5,000 houses up for sale across 34 states of the Federation, which construction generated jobs, economic growth, says Minister ·      Online sale to ensure credibility, openness and reduce human intervention, underhand practice ·      Encourages FHA, FMBN, to use portal, states to adapt portal for sales of their houses ·      President of NGE, Permanent Secretary, commend FG, Minister for commitment to housing delivery, innovativeness   Nigerians can now apply for houses built under the current Federal Government’s National Housing Programme (NHP) in 34 states of the country following the launch, Friday of the portal by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN through which interested members of the public could apply for allocation.   The formal launch of the portal https://nhp.worksandhousing.gov.ng which took place at the Conference Room of the Ministry in Mabushi, Abuja, throws open the door for Nigerians to apply online to buy the available 5,000 plus housing units, ranging from 1, 2 to 3 bedroom bungalows and blocks of flats in any location of their choice. In his remarks at the ceremony, which was attended by prominent stakeholders and media executives including the President, Nigeria Guild of Editors, Mr. Mustapha Isah, Fashola said the decision by the Ministry to sell the available houses online was to bring credibility to the exercise and reduce human intervention as well as give all categories of buyers a level playing field.   The Minister told his audience, “We converge here just to introduce a portal on which the National Housing Programme pilot will be offered for sale to the public.  What that means is that we will not be selling printed forms, the forms are online and this allows for more openness, limits human intervention and any disposition to any underhand practice”.    Clarifying that the decision to adopt online sale of forms and limit human intervention was not an indictment of the staff, he added, “It is just to make the system more accountable and people seeing credibility if they win and if they are not successful they will equally know that the system has at least given them a fair chance”. Fashola, who described the launch of the portal as “the end game of our economic objective”, explained that the government did not just set out to build houses, adding that the project has served many purposes, the first of which was to test what sort of houses Nigerians would like to live in so as to make policies to guide its agencies and parastatals, as well as other stakeholders, to build what could be acceptable in the markets. “We are the policy head of those parastatals like the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and so on. We are saying that the National Housing Programme had not succeeded in the past and some of the houses built then still remain empty. So we conducted a national survey across the zones just to find out what is acceptable”, the Minister said. The findings, he said, were that while in the Northern part of the country there was preference for bungalow and large expanse of land which encouraged building horizontally, in the Southern part, there seemed to be acceptance for blocks of flats and lack of space which made building vertically necessary. Emphasizing that the current National Housing Programme is a pilot or demonstration scheme meant, among others, to galvanize private sector participation, Fashola explained further, “We applied for land from the states and we set out to do a demonstration or a pilot programme because we then wanted to validate what we saw and build a pilot scheme”. “So as at today we have built 5,000 plus units in different stages of completion. We have done in Phase 1 and we have done in Phase 2 and some have started in Phase 3”, the Minister reiterated adding that the other purpose the scheme has served was to fulfill part of the objectives of the administration’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). He added, “It was also a way to implement our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) because as at the time we conceived this programme, the country was in recession”, expressing delight that it has fulfilled that objective because over 1,000 contractors were engaged on the building sites; “businesses owned by Nigerians and Nigerian contractors”. Pointing out that no foreign contractor was engaged in the project, Fashola added that it was not only an opportunity for nation building but an opportunity for the contractors to sustain their staff. In his goodwill message after the launch, President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Mustapha Isah, commended the Federal Government for its commitment to housing delivery. He also commended the Minister for the innovations he has brought to bear at the national level, which, according to him, was a replication of his development initiatives as Governor in Lagos State. Also in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Babangida Hussaini commended President Buhari and the Minister for their commitment to programmes and projects that promote prosperity for the citizens and grow the nation’s economy. Aside the NGE President, other media personalities present were the Special Assistant, Digital/New Media to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Tolu Ogunlesi, the Secretary General of the NGE and Editor, Nation’s Capital, THISDAY Newspaper Group, Mr. Iyobosa Uwugiaren and the Deputy-Editor, BusinessDay Newspaper, Abuja Bureau Office, while from the Ministry, were Directors, Special Advisers and other top officials as well as Media Correspondents.   ...