FMBN, NSITF To Unlock Affordable Housing For Workers

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) and the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) said they are partnering to unlock affordable housing opportunities for Nigerian workers through their statutory contributions to both institutions.

This was the outcome of the meeting between the management teams of the two agencies at the Federal Mortgage Bank headquarters in Abuja.

Speaking during the visit, the Managing Director/Chief Executive of FMBN, Shehu Usman Osidi, said the proposed partnership aligns with the Bank’s mandate to mobilise long-term funds for housing development and provide affordable mortgage financing to Nigerian workers through the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme.

Osidi noted that historically, NSITF was among the institutions originally contemplated as shareholders in the Federal Mortgage Bank’s ownership structure when it was established as Nigeria’s apex mortgage finance institution.

According to him, the arrangement was designed to ensure that Nigerian workers, whose contributions power the National Housing Fund Scheme, had institutional representation in the housing finance system.

He explained, however, that changes in the institutional landscape, particularly following the enactment of the Employees’ Compensation Act of 2010, transformed NSITF into a specialised social insurance institution focused on workplace compensation, occupational safety and employee welfare protection.

Despite the shift, Osidi stressed that significant opportunities remain for both institutions to collaborate on housing initiatives targeted at Nigerian workers, particularly through cooperative housing schemes and structured mortgage access programmes.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of NSITF, represented by the Executive Director of Finance and Investment, Olufemi Samuel Ayodele, ED Finance and Investment, NSITF, said Nigerian workers already contribute to the National Housing Fund as well as one per cent of their earnings to the Employees’ Compensation Scheme managed by NSITF.

He noted that both contributions could be strategically harnessed to deliver housing projects that directly benefit workers, while also addressing the housing challenges many employees face after retirement.