Sen. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Chairman Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development, has reiterated the Senate’s commitment to implementation of the housing master plan across the country.
The former Sokoto State Governor gave the commitment on Thursday at the 12th meeting of the National Council of Land, Housing and Urban Development held at Shehu Yar’adua International Conference Centre, Kaduna.
The program themed: “Harnessing Local and International Credit Schemes as a Panacea for Affordable Housing Infrastructure Development under the Renewed Hope Agenda” has in attendance the Honourable Minister of Housing, Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa and other important dignitaries.
Speaking at the occasion, Senator Tambuwal, the former Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, identified the critical factors affecting the supply of housing units in Nigeria as epileptic financial system and slow administrative procedures.
He outlined other factors to include high cost of land registration and land titles, housing policies, high cost of building materials, and high cost of land acquisition.
According to him, in 1991, Nigeria’s housing deficit was at 7 million and rose to 12 million in 2007, 14 million in 2010, 20 million units in 2018, and in 2023, Nigeria has an estimated 28 million housing deficit.
To bridge this gap, Tambuwal said the red chamber committee would align with Central Bank of Nigeria CBN’s recommendation of supplying 1,000,000 housing units each year as against the current 100,000; noting the 3.5% population growth, “If we must meet up with the 2033 housing projection.”
The former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Governors Forum, however, promised that his committee would strengthen its oversight function by working hand in hand with the National Council of Land, Housing and Urban Development in the implementation of the housing master plan.
