FMBN Refutes Allegation of Fraud
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has described as false, a media report of N360 billion fraud at the Bank. Signed
The FMBN in a statement that was signed by its Group Head, Corporate Communications, Ahmed Abubakar, described the allegation as, “baseless and totally misleading.”
It urged members of the public to note that its board and management had championed the principles of professionalism and transparency in running the affairs of the Bank through regular updates on its operations to the general public and stakeholders.
“The facts surrounding the operational performance of the Bank in delivering affordable housing finance are clear and verifiable,” it added.
While reeling its scorecard between April 2017 and January 2020, it pointed out that within the last three years, being the tenure of the Bank’s current management, the institution had mobilised a total of N138.5 billion as collections under the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme.
“The figure accounts for 37 per cent of the cumulative collections of N371.4 billion from 1992 to date. Within this period, the bank disbursed N88.6 billion while the sum of N22.9 billion (68% of a cumulative N33.7 billion) has been refunded to about 158,000 of a total of 290,543
Nigerian workers who exited the Scheme in line with the provisions of the NHF Act.
“In addition, the Bank created 21,046 mortgage loans and disbursed 43,312 home renovation loans as part of addressing the housing finance needs of low- and medium-income Nigerians.
“Currently, various categories of loans totaling 127.4 billion are at various stages of processing for disbursement to beneficiaries,” it explained.
Furthermore, it urged members of the public to note that despite its modest achievements, the management of the Bank was not unmindful of the huge housing deficit. According to the statement, while FMBN aspires to do more, the Bank was challenged by a weak capital base (only N2.56 billion of a mere N5 billion capital is paid up), and the funding of its operations is currently limited to the resources of the NHF Scheme.
“It is in this regard that the Bank is aggressively seeking recapitalisation to the tune of N500 billion and exploring opportunities for other sources of low-cost, longterm funds locally and globally, in addition to pursuing full compliance with the provisions of the NHF Act, to address Nigeria’s housing funding gap.
“As a financial institution in Nigeria, it is important to also reiterate that the FMBN falls under the supervision of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which conducts annual examination exercises.
“Internally, the Bank has also appointed an audit firm of international repute that audits its financial statements as required of a corporate entity in addition to oversights by the Offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the AuditorGeneral of the Federation as well as the relevant Committees of the National Assembly,” it stated.
Additionally, it stated that its current Board of Directors had approved and was implementing corporate governance and risk management framework in line with banking regulations,
“These policy measures and regulatory oversights are to ensure the safety and prudence in the use of funds, inclusive of NHF contributions, under the management of the Bank.
“We therefore wish to encourage the media to verify information made available to them and balance their reports before going public in line with respected and accepted global tenets of the profession.
“The Board and Executive Management remains committed to repositioning FMBN as a stronger and more impactful institutional tool for the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerians in line with the ‘Next Level’ Agenda of the President Buhari Administration,” it added.