We Will Reduce Housing Deficit Before May 2023 – FG

The Managing Director, Federal Housing Authority, Gbenga Ashafa, has stated that the Federal Government would reduce the housing deficits in Nigeria before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure in May 2023.

FG has insisted that it is working on providing affordable homes for Nigerians despite the projected 17 million housing deficits in the country not being proven.

Ashafa, while speaking at the recent soft inauguration of Expressview Estate Lugbe, Abuja, said the Federal Government had been delivering houses to both low- and high-income earners.

He further stated that data released on the housing deficits in the country does not always cover houses that are not occupied.

Ashafa added that housing projects such as the one flagged-off in Lugbe, sitting on 1.5 hectares of land for 58 terrace flats, among others, were not captured.

He noted that the housing authority had just completed about 300 houses in Zuba, Abuja, for the low-income earners, as thousands of buildings had been delivered to Nigerians within a short period.

Ashafa said, “The Minister of Works and Housing has been saying right from the outset that we’ve not been able to come up with a specific figure that truly captures the housing deficits in Nigeria.

“However, look at the project we are embarking on now. Are we counting it? Look at the number of unoccupied houses in many locations across the country. Are we counting them?

“If you go round, you will see a lot of unoccupied houses because of the amount of money they have put on them. We know that we have a lot of work to do, but this administration is doing a lot to ensure that we reduce the number of housing deficits across the country.

“It is part of the promises of President Muhammadu Buhari. So, we are not just providing houses on one level, we have three levels in the mass housing scheme that we must cater for and we are working hard to meet it during the life of this administration.

“We have houses for the lower-, middle-income earners, while this project (Expressview Estate, Lugbe) is for the upper-income earners. They are Nigerians too.”

This article was originally published on Naija News