By Dipo Olowookere
The housing policy of the Federal Government for workers in the country received a boost on Tuesday when government signed a Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with major stakeholders in the programme.
The government had continually promised to provide decent and affordable houses for Federal Civil Servants.
The mortgage refinance agreement was signed at the 2017 FISH Housing Summit which was held at the International Conference Centre (ICC) Abuja, with the theme ‘Innovative Strategies for Affordable Housing,’ organized by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation between Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB) and Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company, while the second Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was entered between Family Homes Funds which is another government institution to provide affordable housing and the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) Programme.
Chairman of FISH implementation committee and Permanent Secretary Common Services Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Yemi Adelakun, in his welcome address at the summit had earlier said, “We will be witnessing during the course of this summit signing of MOU between FISH Programme and Family Homes Funds which is another government institution established to provide affordable housing.
“We will also witness signing of MOU between FGSHLB and Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company for a N13 billion mortgage refinancing.
“We also hope to enter into partnership with manufactures of building materials for discounted volumes prices to drive the cost of houses much lower.”
The Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed towards approving loan that would make it possible for some Federal Civil Servants to purchase houses under the government’s backed Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Ekanem Oyo-Ita, while declaring the summit open, said that the summit was organized to deliberate on sustainable pathways for the successful implementation of the Federal Integrated Staff Housing Programme (FISH-P) and as well as unearth new sources of funds for the programme.
“This occasion presents a golden opportunity for all stakeholders in the housing sub-sector especially the Federal Public Servants that are expected to benefit from FISH-P to interface and deliberate on innovative strategies that will guarantee affordable housing delivery as well as sustainable sources of funds for the FISH programme,” she said.
Adedapo Adesanya