The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has dismissed claims that Nigeria has 17 million housing deficit.
Fashola spoke on Thursday during the weekly ministerial briefing organised by Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
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The minister said he consulted with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and some international organisations, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), and they confirmed that the Nigerian housing deficit reports were not correct.
He, therefore, said the claim should be disregarded.
The minister said there was no housing crisis in Nigeria as a country with many empty houses could not be classified as such.
He attributed the pressure on housing in the country to rural-urban migration, thereby creating a demand and and supply problem.
Fashola said the fact that people left their houses in the rural areas to squat in the cities did not amount to housing deficit in the country.
He said: “It’s illogical to say we have that housing deficit when you have empty houses. No such deficit exist anywhere in the world.”
He disclosed that the actual housing deficit in Nigeria could not be ascertained until another census was conducted in the country.
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