The Federal Government has granted an approval for the construction of 200 housing units for low and medium income earners in Oyo State.
The beneficiaries of the proposed housing units include civil servants, both in the public sector and workers in the organised private sector.
Managing Director/Chief Executive, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Madu Hamman, made this disclosure when he received the Director-General, Oyo Liaison Office in Abuja and Lagos, Wale Ajani in Abuja, recently.
The FMBN MD/CEO, in his brief address, commended the Oyo State government representatives, led by Wale Ajani, for the visit, stressing its importance in the long term relationship between the bank and the state.
Madu Hamman also expressed his desire to meet with the state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, in order to urgently sort out salient issues.
He said the bank was seriously looking for ways to establish contacts and relationship with big stakeholders like Oyo State.
He noted that since his inauguration and assumption of office, only Oyo and Kano states have not performed well in term of contributions to the Federal Mortgage Housing Scheme.
Hamman said FMBN is saddled with the responsibility to provide funding for housing projects across all sectors of the economy both formal and informal across the country.
Ajani, in a statement, said his visit to the bank was to explore ways of mutual collaboration and benefits between the bank and the Oyo State government.
He stressed the need for the state and the bank to deepen their already existing relationship, adding that the state places high priority on provision of housing for low and medium income earners in the state.
Ajani expressed gratitude to the Federal Government for granting the approval for the construction of 200 Housing units in Oyo State.
He listed the achievements of the Seyi Makinde-led government in the housing sector to include the almost completed Lere Adigun Estate at Basorun; Rashidi Ladoja GRA along Lagos Ibadan Toll Gate; ongoing housing project in Ajia at Ona-Ara, and others spread across Ibadan, the capital of the state.
Ajani said it was gathered at the meeting that trade unions from Oyo State recently met with the bank and received a disbursement, totalling about N200, 000 000, for various housing projects.
He described Oyo State as the cradle of the civil service in Nigeria with the highest number of civil servants needing personal homes at affordable costs.
Ajani also assured FMBN Chairman/CEO of conveying his message to Governor Makinde, with a view to urgently facilitating a meeting that will birth a more robust engagement.
In a related development, Ajani also led a delegation from the Abuja Liaison Office on a courtesy visit to other federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) within the week.
The MDAs he visited include the National Environmental Standards and Regulatory Agency, the National Centre For Disease Control (NCDC) and the Nigeria Institute of Soil Science, all in Abuja.
Ajani said the essence of the meeting was to take the relationship between the state and the federal MDAs to another level where benefits and opportunities coming from the Federal Goverment through these MDAs will not elude the state.
He assured that, as the leader in the entire South-West in terms of land mass, arable land for agriculture, human and material resources available to build strong and viable economy, his office will keep an ‘eagle eye’ on whatever is coming from the Federal Goverment, through the MDAs, that will benefit Oyo State and its people.
