The Ekiti State Government on Monday continued its partnership drive to deliver affordable houses to its residents.
The drive led by His Excellency, Gov. Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji when he received in audience the Honourable Minister for Housing and Urban Development Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa in Abuja, last Friday.
Follow up to that, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Housing and Mortgage Development, Hon. Gboyega Oloniyo, has paid a courtesy visit to the Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Alhaji Shehu Usman Osidi and his management team in their Abuja Headquarters.
Oloniyo emphasised the urgent need for Ekiti to synergise with the FMBN for delivery of a proposed 2000 housing units in the state.
In his word, “Our government holds housing sector in high esteem but there is an attendant challenge for us in achieving that because of the high rising cost of building materials.
“You will agree with me that we don’t have low cost housing any longer and there cannot be medium cost housing either because of the cost-push inflationary trends in the sector.
“Where then do we run to for shelter? It is only by coming to your institution to see how we can truly join hands together in partnership. We expect a rework of our collective value system by engaging local contents in the Housing deliveries”, Oloniyo said.
He explained that Ekiti State has a huge diaspora population that could match any of the states in the country as well as a good number of willing civil/public servants and successful entrepreneurs who can be off-takers of the proposed houses.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of FMBN, Shehu Usman Osidi assured Ekiti State Government of the bank’s readiness to partner in delivery of affordable houses to the residents.
“We feel normally excited when state governments extend hands of fellowship for us to partner to provide affordable housing to Nigerians,” he said.
The MD explained that the bank had in the past lpartnered with developers to deliver houses in the state adding that the bank had three projects where over N2 billion naira was disbursed for the construction of 145 housing units.
He further assured that Ekiti State would also benefit from the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Housing agenda to deliver 100,000 houses across the country.