Since its inception in 1992, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has disbursed a total of N455.13 billion in loans under the National Housing Fund (NHF), of which N29.5 billion was distributed between January and October 2024 alone.

This includes more than N12 billion disbursed under the Rent-to-Own scheme. The bank also disbursed N91, 184,327,429.81 as refunds to existing subscribers. The NHF scheme is a contributory scheme requiring Nigerian workers to contribute 2.5 per cent of their monthly income to qualify for housing loans up to N50 million at single-digit interest rates of six to nine per cent, after consistently contributing for up to six months.

Speaking on the organisation’s 2024 performance, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Shehu Osidi, explained that out of the N91, 184,327,429.81 refunded, N12,183,387,615.81 was recorded within 10 months under the current management from February 2024.

The feat, achieved between January and October last year, represents more than 13 per cent of the total NHF refunds since inception. He made the disclosures when he led the bank’s top management as part of the team of the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development that appeared before the Senate Committee on Lands, Housing, and Urban Development for an interactive session to review the ministry’s 2024 budget performance and 2025 estimates.

Osidi said the impressive scorecard was the product of process improvements by the new management to boost turnaround time and ensure speedy approvals and disbursements.

On the heels of the interaction with the Senate, the MD said: “When we came on board, we made it clear that one of our major priorities is to ensure prompt service delivery to our subscribers and customers.

“We are leveraging technology, and ensuring that staff of the bank can deliver on their responsibilities promptly and efficiently through continuous capacity building and motivation.”

According to him, the agency’s adoption of core banking applications also opened the road to improved service delivery, ensuring that interactions with customers were timely, and transactions completed in no time.

He continued: “We will not relent, and there’s no room for complacency. We realise that we are not there yet, but we will continue to leverage innovations and technologies that make our work better. I always say that without the subscribers, there will not be an FMBN, so it is important to offer them excellent services, and ensure their housing needs are met quickly and adequately within the scope of our mandate.”

Osidi said a total of 166,926 new contributors were captured within the same 10-month period, bringing the total number of registered contributors to 5,858,136.

“We have also achieved NHF compliance by 35 states and the FCT, provision of housing for civil servants through the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme, process automation to eliminate bottlenecks, update of the Bank’s financial records, and so on,” he added.