Government unveils plans to expand affordable housing for civil servants nationwide.
By Emmanuel Obisue
Federal Government has announced plans to commission additional housing projects for civil servants to access on a mortgage basis, in a bid to address the longstanding accommodation challenges faced by public sector workers.
Speaking to journalists by the sidelines of the Permanent Secretary’s Quarterly Forum with Union Leaders in Ministeries, Departments and Agencies on Wednesday in Abuja, Hadjiya Salamatu Ahmed, Executive Secretary of the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, noted that three more housing estates will be commissioned soon in Abuja (one) and Nasarawa State (two).
She said the initiative is designed to provide affordable homes for workers who often find it difficult to access mortgage facilities or secure housing loans due to lack of collateral, with the loan ranging between 10 to 20million naira for officers on Grade Level 8 to 14, at a 3 percent interest rate. “You don’t need to know anybody to benefit; the system is open and accessible to all,” Ahmed said, assuring that the housing scheme will be transparent.
Earlier in her Keynote Address, Patience Oyekunle, Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, reiterated government’s determination to improve the welfare of civil servants through new and ongoing initiatives under the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (2021–2025).
She outlined measures already in motion, including the approval of group life assurance for all federal employees, a N750 billion pension fund bill currently before the National Assembly, the resuscitation of the Nigerian Social Investment Trust Fund to strengthen the employee compensation scheme, and the repositioning of the welfare centre at the Federal Secretariat Complex for free medical services.
She also stressed the government’s resolve to deepen collaboration with labour unions and sustain industrial harmony.
Joint Union Chairman of the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Comrade ChiKa UKachukwu, decried delays and bureaucratic bottlenecks in accessing medical treatment through HMOs, describing the process as discouraging and time-wasting.
“They can do better by reducing some of this. You go to the hospital, you want to see a doctor, they send your whatever, your code, to your HMO, it takes two hours and all of that. These are the things we expect the government to do for us, so that when civil servants come to the hospital to assess, they are not discouraged and do not spend the whole day just because you want to access medical treatment,” she lamented.
