By Yinka Kolawole,
with agency reports
Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) is considering using Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMIs) as collection centres for the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme, a departure from the current policy that makes FMBN the sole collector of the fund.

Managing Director of FMBN, Mr. Gimba Yau Kumo, stated this during a closed door meeting between management of the bank and representatives of the Mortgage Banking Association of Nigeria (MBAN), which is the umbrella body of the PMIs in the country.

“We are looking at ways of involving PMIs in the collection of the money since they are more on ground. What we want is the money to be collected. This is a collective responsibility. If we have ways and means that will help us collect the NHF, I don’t see any reason why we should not embrace it. We are open and we will look into that option. We will work out modalities that will ensure a more efficient and effective system of collecting the NHF,” he said.

A reliable source informed Vanguard that a technical committee would soon be set up made up of people from FMBN and MBAN to tackle the problem of illiquidity in the housing sector.

It would be recalled that MBAN, during a recent visit to the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Nduese Essien, made request for the involvement of PMIs in the collection of the fund. They noted that with 66 licensed members across the country, their involvement would enhance efficiency of the scheme.

MBAN President, Mr. Abimbola Olayinka, noted during the visit that the move will facilitate provision of affordable housing for Nigerians. “In order to achieve this, there is need to streamline the NHF scheme to make it more effective .We believe that Primary Mortgage Institutions can deepen the NHF scheme if they are allowed to participate in the collection of the NHF contribution, which will be remitted to the FMBN for disbursement. Also, there is need to ensure that more Nigerians have access to the NHF fund.

“In the developed countries, mortgage banks are richer than commercial banks. So, we need to work together to build the sector so that it can meet the challenge of providing cheap mortgage, especially for low income earners across the country. We strongly believe PMIs should be empowered to collect the NHF monthly proceeds and we also have access to a lot of the contributors for this scheme, all that is needed to be done is to create a depth, which we believe is one of the key factors why a lot of people have really not been able to access the NHF scheme,” he stated.”

Olayinka also cautioned on the involvement of those not directly related to housing finance in the management of the fund. “Under the National Housing Fund scheme, windows are being opened for various institutions to partake in it; in particular, things like the pension fund I think it should not be. We in the sector have the expertise and it should be solely for those in the mortgage sector to manage the NHF, so that we will be able to have access to funds and create the depth instead of opening it up to everybody.

By the time it is open to everybody, we will not have a proper standardization in place again. So we are appealing to you that only the management of NHF, as it is being done by the FMBN right now are those to have access to the funds and it should be restricted to the mortgage institutions alone.