ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – The Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, has announced an ongoing plan by his administration to build 20,000 mass housing units with modern facilities for the state civil servants. He said the project would be completed within the next year.
This comes as the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Non-Remittance to the National Housing Fund (NHF) and Utilization of the Funds led by its chairman, Dachung Bagos, commended the Governor for his efforts in ensuring that the State government was up to date in terms of compliance and remittance to the NHF.
While receiving the members of the ad-hoc committee who were on a courtesy visit at the Government House, Enugu, on Tuesday, Governor Mbah said his government was passionate about prioritizing the welfare of workers in the state through various incentives, which included the planned 20,000 mass housing units.
Mbah, who said the state had been playing major roles in the growth and development of the country, further added that Enugu State, under his government, would continue to meet up with its financial commitment to the welfare and well-being of the people.
“We will not only remit the 2.5% to the National Housing Fund, we will also engage the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria for mass housing.
“We have allocated a large expanse of land for mass housing, and we are going to construct 20,000 mass housing for our workers.
“Our goal is to ensure that workers have access to housing upon retirement,” the Governor said.
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Speaking earlier, the chairman of the ad-hoc committee said their mission to the state, as part of their mandate to visit the 36 states of the federation, was to investigate the level of compliance of remittance to the NHF by states and its utilization.
Bagos stressed that the NHF Act 1922, presently under consideration for amendment, “provides that every public worker, including the private sector, is to contribute the 2.5% into the national housing fund”.
Chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Bagos, however, lauded the Governor for meeting up with the financial obligation of the state by remitting the mandatory contributory fund, even as enjoined local governments in the state to emulate the commendable steps taken by the governor.
He noted that the choice of Enugu State as the first state in the federation to visit was predicated on its commitment to the welfare of its workers, assuring that the remittance would inspire them to allocate more housing to the state.
Bagos encouraged the Governor not to rest on the successes recorded by his administration but to do more to ensure the availability of more housing in the state.