FMBN needs N500b to achieve affordable housing

THE FEDERAL MORTGAGE BANK OF NIGERIA (FMBN) has urged the federal government to look into the need to recapitalise the bank with N500biillion.

Speaking with reporters in Calabar at the opening of the bank’s twoday zonal retreat for Southsouth region, Umar Abdullah, the executive director, business development and portfolio management, said management had put forward to the government the need to recapitalise the bank to the tune of N500 billion.

He said if this is done, the bank can expand the mortgage market.

Umar said: “The bank was created with a capital base of just N5 billion and it is the foremost secondary mortgage market. The reality is that the bank can no longer cope with the reality on the ground. Today, even the primary mortgage bank has a capital base of N5 billion and you can imagine the foremost secondary mortgage market in Nigeria, FMBN relying on the N5billion capital base. The situation needs review.”

He said so far, the current management of the bank within the last two years, has been able to refund N18 billion to contributors of the National Housing Scheme (NHS) who retired without getting the expected benefits.

Umar said: “We have achieved tremendously and one of the areas where Nigerians have a bad impression about the bank is in refunds as it concerns the National Housing Fund scheme; the backbone of the bank is the National Housing Fund scheme; the mandatory contribution scheme where all Nigerians are expected to contribute. Nigerians retired without getting their funds and we got that bad image. I want to assure you that today as we are talking, we have refunded N24 billion to Nigerians and out of that N24 billion, it is this incumbent management that has refunded N18 billion.

“We have reviewed the situation, improved on it and are now paying back the contributed money because the contributed money is still in the bank and has not been tampered with.