By YINKA KOLAWOLE

The federal government has tasked members of the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN) to account for the utilisation of Estate Development Loans (EDL) they took for the purpose of housing development in the country.

EDL is a loan granted by Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), under the National Housing Fund (NHF) scheme, to estate developers (private developers, housing corporations and housing cooperatives) to build houses within affordable target prices for sale to NHF contributors. It attracts 10 percent interest and is repayable in 24 months. Membership of REDAN is part of the conditions for accessing the EDL.

Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple, who gave the charge in Abuja, requested that estate developers submit an update on the number of houses that they have built from the EDL loans they have so far taken from FMBN. According to her, the move is sequel to the performance pact that ministers were recently made to sign with President Goodluck Jonathan.

Pepple said the ministry has mapped out strategies to monitor the activities of estate developers who collected loans from FMBN with a view to finding out if they have been performing. She declared that efforts must be geared toward delivering on all projects in line with money budgeted. Available records from FMBN show that as at Feb 2012, N49.182 billion has been disbursed as EDL loans to estate developers.

The minister warned that henceforth, developers who collect loans from FMBN and do not perform would be dropped, stressing that it was better to have a limited number who would deliver than have a pack of under-performing ones. “We have the FMBN that gives loan to estate developers and now we can monitor them and see how they are delivering. Henceforth, we have decided that those we are giving loans to but are not performing, that we should determine their worth and cancel so that we can give it to those who are serious.

“If we have 10 people who are serious taking the loan and delivering on their mandate, it is better than having 50 that will not deliver. This also applies to Federal Housing Authority (FHA). We have asked all the developers in all the 36 states and the FCT to submit to us within two weeks the parts of the houses they have built,” she asserted.

It would be recalled that the President recently signed performance agreement pact with his ministers, to enable the Presidency determine to what extent ministers are delivering on the mandate in their respective ministries.