No fewer than 19 subscribers, comprising doctors and other professionals are seeking intervention of the authorities over their inability to finalise transactions and retrieve National Housing Fund (NHF) equity contributions in an estate development in Abuja.

The aggrieved subscribers allege that they paid N206,500,000 as equity since 2020 under the Stratech Properties Ltd and Netconstruct Nigeria Limited homeownership plan under the Federal Mortgage of Nigeria (FMBN)’s National Housing Fund (NHF) but over three years now, there is no single house to their credit.

One of the affected subscribers, Dr. Olukayode Oluyemi, told The Guardian, that allocation letter was issued to him by Netconstruct for a three-bedroom terrace duplex with boys’ quarter at Sunnyvale Gardens, Kabusa District, Abuja, after paying N4.5 million, 20 per cent equity, for a property worth N23 million.

He and other subscribers also paid N500, 000 each to the broker for corner pieces. Oluyemi also alleged that Netconstruct, the property development company, has failed to refund their deposits to the houses or provide the houses to the subscribers. He said Stratech asked subscribers to reach the firm for refund, after collecting their full payments from Netconstruct.

Stratech Properties Ltd, which is acting as a broker/marketing agent to the subscribers exonerated itself from the transactions, alleging that the scheme was an organised fraud.

“We suspect organised fraud in this transaction; we are calling on you to bring your wealth of experience to unravel this, so that affected Nigerians can get justice,” the Chief Executive Officer, Stratech Properties Ltd, Moses Obisesan told The Guardian.

The firm has written to the Department of State Services (DSS), Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Real Estate Development Association of Nigeria (REDAN) and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to intervene on the matter.

Obisesan explained that “we brought in 24 clients in 2020 and one extra in 2021 making it a total of 25 clients on the NHF plan and they paid the required 20 per cent equity to Netconstruct Nigeria Limited. Netconstruct introduced Mutual Alliance as the primary mortgage bank to process the mortgage.

“On the July 6, 2021, we got a letter of transaction termination due to payment defaults for all our clients, knowing full well that a better part of 2020 was cut off by the COVID-19 lockdown and even after the call off, most offices were not functioning fully and that includes FMBN.

“We wrote to them on August 26, 2021 expressing our displeasure after several cancellation of meetings scheduled by their MD, which Stratech Board Chairman and other directors cleared their schedule to honour.

“It was later resolved that there would be a price increase instead of an outright termination; about N3.5 million was added to the initial price of the house. It was agreed that the total payment will be done twice; by or before March 31, 2022 and by or before June 50, 2022.

“In our bid to hasten the process of the NHF disbursement, and the suspension of Mutual alliance by FMBN, we chose a new Primary Mortgage Bank (PMB) – Citycode Mortgage Bank to ensure quick drawdown and disbursement of the approved loan.

“We had an agreement with them to get the disbursement done within three months and promised to deliver once they have all the documents they need. This is to lessen the burden of paying N8,750,000 at once being that they are mostly civil servants.

“We wrote to Netconstruct on November 18, 2021, requesting for documents for the processing of NHF disbursement to be provided to Citycode, but they did not reply. On February 4, 2022, we had a meeting with the GM Netconstruct and some staff of Citycode, where we were informed that the collateral that Netconstruct has at FMBN was for another property and not for the Kabusa Gardens project.

“On July 7, 2022, we received a letter of termination for the 19 clients on the basis of late payment, instructing the clients to furnish them (Netconstruct) with their account details for refund of less than 10 per cent administrative fee. All efforts to meet with them to find a way to resolve this proved abortive.”

He said Stratech reported Netconstruct to DSS in July 2022, where their MD was called to defend himself, saying, “after much arbitration, Netconstruct was asked to provide the final allocation letters for the six fully paid clients and deliver their properties in six months’ time as requested by Stratech.

“Netconstruct requested for nine months to complete the project and deliver to the clients and also agreed to give them their final allocation letters.”

Obisesansaid:”We got mortgage approval for them in record time, that they were not able to get disbursement was Netconstruct fault. We encouraged them to write to the developer and Netconstruct told them that they will get it after 90 working days.

“They exceeded the timeline given until we took the matter to the EFCC and the clients took the matter into their own hands before they started refunding some of them. The investigation is still on-going at the EFCC.

“Netconstruct refunded some of them without any compensation and less than 10 per cent of what they paid, some were paid less than the amount they were supposed to get and some have not gotten any at all. By this, the clients have lost valuable time and money on this transaction as the value of that money then has appreciably increased now.”

Efforts to reach the Managing Director, Netconstruct Nigeria Limited, Folabi Oseni, proved abortive. But one of his staff, Mrs. Odiri Odudu told The Guardian that the company has met its obligation to the subscribers at the weekend. Her submission was refuted by Oluyemi, who said the company has not paid some of them at all.