The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has moved to expand access to homeownership among workers of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), with 430 housing units allocated to beneficiaries under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme.

The housing initiative, covering projects in Abuja, Kano and Lagos, is being implemented through a partnership involving the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, FMBN, Family Homes Funds Limited, NMDPRA Staff Cooperative Society, CityCode Mortgage Bank and private developers.

Allocation letters were formally presented to the beneficiaries at the NMDPRA Auditorium in Abuja, signalling a further push by the government to use institutional partnerships and mortgage finance to increase access to affordable housing for Nigerian workers.

Speaking at the event, the minister of Housing and Urban Development, Engr. Muttaqha Rabe Darma, said the Federal Government remained committed to expanding affordable housing opportunities, adding that plans were underway to introduce a social housing initiative capable of delivering 100 housing units in every Local Government Area nationwide.

Darma stressed that the scale of Nigeria’s housing challenge required stronger cooperation among government institutions, financial organisations, developers, employers and other stakeholders, saying such collaboration would allow available resources and expertise to be deployed more effectively.

The FMBN managing director and chief executive pfficer, Shehu Usman Osidi, said the initiative demonstrated how government housing policies could be converted into actual homeownership opportunities for workers.

According to Osidi, NMDPRA workers had subscribed to 359 housing units at Karsana, Abuja, and another 14 units at Janguza, Kano, while 197 NHF mortgage applications worth about N8.3 billion were being packaged for onward processing by FMBN.

He said CityCode Mortgage Bank was assisting beneficiaries with their mortgage applications, while FMBN would provide financing for applicants who met the eligibility requirements.

Osidi disclosed that the Bank’s intervention in the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme was not limited to individual mortgages, but also included project financing and off-take guarantees designed to give developers greater certainty and accelerate housing delivery.

He cited the Karsana project, where FMBN provided ₦19.9 billion in direct project financing alongside a ₦100 billion off-taker guarantee, as an example of the Bank’s strategy to combine construction financing with mortgage access for prospective homeowners.

The FMBN boss urged the beneficiaries to work closely with their cooperative society, CityCode Mortgage Bank, developers and the Bank to complete their documentation and other mortgage requirements, assuring them of a transparent and efficient processing system.

He also disclosed that FMBN was broadening its housing finance offerings with initiatives including its recently launched Diaspora Mortgage Loan and a planned Rent Assistance Product, aimed at responding to changing housing needs.

The Director-General of NMDPRA, Mallam Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, commended the Ministry of Housing, FMBN and other participating institutions for creating an avenue through which employees of the regulatory authority could access homeownership.

Umar said the initiative demonstrated the potential of inter-agency cooperation to address workers’ welfare while contributing to the Federal Government’s broader housing and development objectives.

Other stakeholders at the event included the Managing Director of Family Homes Funds Limited, Abdul Mutallab Muktar; Managing Director of CityCode Mortgage Bank, Oluniyi Abiodun Ajao; President of NMDPRA Authority Staff Cooperative Society, Abdullahi Danladi Auta; and Chief Commercial Officer of Renewed Hope SPV Ltd., Dare Makinde.