Reps to probe non-refund of national housing fund contributions

The House of Representatives on Tuesday resolved to investigate the non-refund of contributions to the National Housing Fund (NHF) to beneficiaries by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

It, therefore, mandated the committee on housing and habitat to investigate the undue delays and non-refund of retirees’ contributions to the fund by both the Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB) and FHA.

The committee is to also look into the activities of the FMB and the National Housing Fund with respect to contributions, remittances from ministries, departments and agencies and report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

These followed the adoption of a motion moved by Eta Mbora, who represents Calabar Municipality/Odukpani Federal Constituency of Cross River State.

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Presenting the motion, Mbora said NHF was established to mobilise funds to facilitate the provision of affordable housing for employed Nigerians, noting that every Nigerian earning N3,000 or more per annum was required to contribute 2.5 percent of his or her monthly salary to the Fund.

He explained that the core mandate of NHF was to facilitate the mobilisation of funds for the provision of houses for Nigerians at affordable prices, ensure easy access to loan facilities to Nigerians for building.

The lawmaker said the fund was also for the purchase of improved residential houses, provision of incentives for capital markets to invest in property development and provide long-term loans to mortgage institutions for lending to contributors to the fund.

Mbora said the “House is aware that the NHF Act provides that refund shall be made to contributors who did not obtain a housing loan while in service and should be processed and paid within three months of receipt of the application for a refund.

“We are worried that retirees who applied to the Federal Mortgage Bank and the National Housing Fund to be refunded have not been attended to in the last three years, resulting in endless delays of refund and non-payment of their refund.

“We are further aware that retirees who have invested productive years in the course of their service to the nation deserve a rewarding treatment in getting their contribution to the fund during active years in service as the country does not provide social security welfare for retirees,” he argued.