Wike Tasks Abuja Property Firm On Affordable Housing

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has directed the Abuja Property Development Company (APDC) to prioritise affordable housing as road construction and infrastructure expansion open up new districts in the nation’s capital.

Wike, represented by the group managing director of Abuja Investments Company Limited (AICL), Amb Maureen Tamuno, gave the charged at APDC’s 20th anniversary symposium in Abuja.

He urged the company to focus on housing that meets the needs of ordinary residents, civil servants and middle-income earners, rather than measuring development by the size or appearance of buildings.

“Real estate is not about concrete, steel or glass. It is about households and families,” he said.

Wike called on APDC to adopt modern construction technologies to reduce building costs and accelerate project delivery.

He also advocated energy-efficient homes and mixed-income estates to expand access to homeownership.

“Sustainability without affordability is incomplete. Innovation without inclusion is insufficient. Development without people at its core cannot endure,” he said.

The minister said the anniversary offered an opportunity for APDC to reassess its role in addressing the FCT’s housing needs and delivering greater social value.

Meanwhile, APDC’s acting managing director, Akeem Kolawole Aderogba, while speaking with journalists, identified infrastructure costs as a major obstacle to affordable housing, saying they accounted for between 30 and 40 per cent of total development costs.

“If government can come to the aid of developers by providing infrastructure, it will reduce the cost of housing,” he said.

He proposed a partnership in which the government would provide land and infrastructure, while developers would focus on construction.

Aderogba disclosed that more than 800 families had moved into the company’s 50-hectare estate in Kaba District.

He said its Kasana project was expected to accommodate at least 200 families, while the Idogwari development would provide about 150 homes.

He added that APDC was working with mortgage institutions, including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria through the National Housing Fund, to improve access to home ownership, particularly for civil servants.

Also speaking, Emmanuel Abudele, head of Business Development and chairman of APDC’s 20th Anniversary Planning Committee, identified high land costs and expensive financing as further barriers to affordable housing.

“Land is the major thing in real estate development. So, if the cost of land is subsidised or regularised, then developers will have access to land, and building houses will be easier,” he said.

Abudele urged the government to encourage financial institutions to offer single-digit interest loans to developers, arguing that cheaper financing would help reduce house prices.

He said APDC operated largely as a private entity despite being government-owned, sourcing its own funds and clients, and that the company began breaking even around its 15th year after relying on estate development loans during its early years.