Fashola Inaugurates New FHA Board, Doubts Nigeria’s Housing Deficit Data

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), yesterday swore in a new board for the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), and stressed that the current public data which pegged Nigeria’s housing deficit at 17 million was baseless.

Fashola agreed that Nigeria has an urban housing problem but noted this could be solved by ensuring that empty, unoccupied buildings in major cities were put up either for sale or rent.

The chairman of the newly-appointed board is Senator Lawal Shuaibu from Zamfara State while other members included Mr. Modestus Umenzekwe, Anambra State; Mr. Mumini Hanafi, Kwara State; Mr. Adamu Dadi, Yobe State and Mr. Adamu Ismaila, Adamawa State.

Others are Zubairu S.N, Nasarawa State; Ms. Chinyere Anokwuru, Abia State; Yinka Ogunsulire, Ondo State: Ms. Veronica Shinnaan, Plateau State; Aleruchi Cookey-Gam, Rivers State and Olajumoke Akinwunmi, Ogun State.

Also to serve as statutory members are the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr. Babangida Hussein and the Managing Director of the FHA, Senator Gbenga Ashafa.

Fashola thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the prompt approval of the list sent to him, noting that he was excited about the diversity of the new board in terms of ethnicity, gender and technical expertise that they would bring to bear on their duty.

The minister maintained that while affordable housing remained the goal of government in the housing sector, the term “affordable” was somehow ambiguous because what is affordable to one stratum of the society may not be affordable to another set of individuals.

He noted that under President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic recovery programme, there has been a plan to increase access to housing, ramp up employment opportunities through the building of infrastructure and invest in the Nigerian people.

“There has been something out there and it had been there before we came here; that Nigeria has 17 million housing deficit. It’s a lie. Unfortunately, it was from a document that emanated from this ministry in 2012.

“It has no scientific basis. It has no logical basis, so ignore it. Is there a deficit? Perhaps, there is a deficit in the urban centres. The housing problem is an urban problem. Let’s be honest about it.

“Many of the people who are renting houses in the cities have big houses in their villages. So, let’s understand this problem. In all the urban centres , whether Lagos, Kaduna, Aba, or Kano, there are empty houses, unoccupied houses. So, we need to rethink and understand this problem,” he stated.

He argued that there cannot be a deficit in the real sense, when many houses remained empty in the urban centres.