The House of Representatives has resolved to investigate the Federal mortgage bank over the use of N360bn contributed by Nigerians.
The resolution was sequel to a motion moved by Julius Ihonvbere on Thursday, asking for an ad hoc committee to investigate the inability of the bank to build houses for customers of the Banks.
Making reference to a newspaper publication, he said the “Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has over N360bn (three hundred and sixty billion naira) in its kitty and yet, only an insignificant sixty-three thousand out of the five million contributors have been able to access the fund over the past twenty- eight years.”
He added that “four million, six hundred and forty-seven thousand (4,647,000) contributors are left at the mercy of Shylock landlords all over Nigeria largely due to no fault of theirs, but the bureaucratic nature and slow pace of doing business in Nigeria.
“The bank has only been able to deliver a paltry twenty-eight thousand housing units across the country in the face of the ever burgeoning demand for housing in Nigeria.”
Ihonvbere noted that the bank would not be able to provide houses for its subscribers based on the pace of the work.
“With the pace at which the Mortgage Bank is going, a large percentage of contributors will never be able to actualize their dreams of owning a house of their own in their life time;
“In-spite of the large sums of contributors’ money and the force of legality at its disposal, the bank has failed to deliver on its mandate of providing housing for Nigerians and the continuous retention of such large sums of money by the Bank is a veritable source of corruption which should be discouraged,” he stated.
The yet to be constituted committee is to report back to the House in 4weeks.
