The nomination of a former managing director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Architect Ahmed Dangiwa, as a Minister has continued to receive commendations from stakeholders in the housing industry.
Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) said Dangiwa’s nomination was a testimony of President Bola Tinubu’s hunting process.
HDAN explained that Dangiwa truly deserved his place on the list as he had proved to be a capable hand.
HDAN Executive Director, Festus Adebayo, who hailed the choice of the former boss of FMBN, said his reign at the specialised bank was a remarkable one.
He commended Tinubu for choosing such a great Nigerian who can give answers to our prayers for the home ownership in Nigeria,Dangiwa as a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria “on the basis of his track record and commitment to the development of the housing sector in Nigeria.”
Speaking at the end of a four-day African International Housing Show, which was attended by 15 countries and many international institutions including by IFC which ended in Abuja on July 27, Adebayo “thanked President Tinubu for raising the hope of the stakeholders who have over the last 25 years called for the development of mortgage and housing development and access to housing in Nigeria.
“Arc. Dangiwa in his last appointment, before becoming the SSG of the Katsina state government, was at the helm of affairs of Federal Mortgage Bank, where within 5 years, turned around the place to the extent to which when he was going , he was hosted to a celebrated dinner because of his contributions.
“Thouh he was recently appointed by the Katsina Government as the Secretary to the State Government, our joy however, knows no bound that President Tinubu has brought him to the national stage where he is more needed to deliver the dividend of democracy, especially in helping to address housing gap and making mass housing a reality.”
For those who are still wondering how Dangiwa’s name suddenly appeared on the ministerial list, Adebayo said, they should check his record when he presided over FMBN.
He listed his achievement during his 5 years reign at FMBN to include, “Increased National Housing Funds (NHF) Collection to a record high of about N500bn from N232.8bn the bank generated for 25 years of its existence.
“Increased NHF Refunds to about N50bn from N10.8bn, a position he met at the bank.”
He also adds that, “Mortgage Bank disbursed only N152bn in Housing Loans to Nigerians for 25 years, whike Dangiwa-led Adminisyration disbursed about N163bn in just 5 years.”
Before the coming of Dangiwa, Mortgage Bank had 20,435 Housing Units across Nigeria as at 2017 but currently has about 33,000 Housing Stock across Nigeria.”
Dangiwa was also credited to have reduced equity requirements from 10 to 0% on Loans of N5m and below and from 30 to 10% on loans above N5m to make Houses accessible and affordable for Nigerians.
“He created a Rent To Own Mortgage Product with 0% equity contribution and reduced the Interest to 7% from 9% for affordability.
“Created Individual Construction Loans for contributors with legal lands and reasonable bills of quantities to access and build their houses to taste.
“Increased repayment period for teachers, and liberalized access to renovation loans with only guarantors not collateral.
“Revamped Cooperative Housing Development Loans, about 5,000 Housing units have been built for 160 Corporate Bodies across Nigeria.”
He stressed that, “All these were achieved in just 5 years of his stay at the bank guided by God and his vast administrative experience, sound leadership skills, financial discipline, passion and hope for better Nigeria.”
HDAN boss also added, “It was Ahmed Dangiwa as FMBN CEO that secured the approval of the Federal Executive Council for the procurement and implementation of core banking application that computerized the operations of the Bank and eliminated the manual work processes that had impeded the progress of FMBN.”
