Senate worried on ‘seizure’ of $278m meant for housing supply in 2017 budget
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Senator Barnabas Gemade has revealed that federal government deliberately withheld a whopping $ 278m allocated for the purposes of Housing and Urban Development in 2017 budget.
The fund is domiciled at the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) since the beginning of the budget year.
Though there had not been any sign that the fund was abused, Gemade averred that the amount was an intervention fund appropriated to support mortgage activities in the country within the ending financial year.
While making the disclosure, the Benue lawmaker called on the Bank to liaise with the supervisory Ministry of Power, Works, and Housing, and the Ministry of Finance, to ensure that the funds are released for the purpose for which it was appropriated.
However, a twist emerged on the fund as the Managing Director of the mortgage bank, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, argued that since the establishment of the Bank, it has not received any budgetary appropriation from the Federal Government, and therefore relies solely on income generated from contributors under the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme to finance its activities.
