The Federal Government is committed to the provision of housing to all segments of Nigerians, MD/ CEO of Federal Housing Authority ( FHA) Senator Gbenga Ashafa has said.

He spoke during the unveiling of Express View Estate, a partnership between Federal Housing Authority Mortgage Bank (FHAMB) and Mixta Africa in Lugbe, Abuja.

Answering questions from reporters on the much-bandied 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria, Ashafa while applauding the efforts of President Muhammadu Buhari government in addressing the nation’s challenges, noted that there is no actual empirical data to back the housing deficit figures as claimed.

Making reference to the position of Minister of Works & Housing, Babatunde Fashola on the much-touted figure, Ashafa said: “What the Minister of Works and Housing have been saying right from onset was that we have not been able to come up with specific deficit figure. However, if you look at the project we are embarking on now, are we going to count the units as part of the houses in existence? What about the number of unoccupied houses everywhere, are we counting them?

“If you go round, you will see a lot of unoccupied houses, due to the cost put on them by the developers and the negative effect of the present economic realities”.

On the efforts of Buhari’s administration in tackling the housing deficit, he said: “We know we have a lot of work to do but the Buhari administration is doing a lot to ensure that we reduce the Housing deficit in the country.”

He added: ”In all the States of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing have been able to complete some estates, while others are nearing completion.

Read Also:PWAN Inaugurates monitoring committee for criminal justice in Gombe

”It is part of the promise and manifesto of our party and promise of President Muhammadu Buhari. So, we are presently providing a number of houses for the low, medium and upper-income earners depending on the need and locations”.

He announced the 764 units of a mass affordable housing scheme in Zuba, Abuja would soon be completed and ready for commissioning.

Express View Estate is a partnership with MIXTA AFRICA sitting on about 1.5 hectares of land, the project is expected to deliver about 58 terrace duplexes of 3 bedrooms, serviced with Standard Infrastructure.

Congratulating MIXTA Africa on their choice to partner FHA, Ashafa expressed hope that they would deliver a functional Estate while he promised a sustained partnership with the company.

Managing Director FHA Mortgage Bank, Hayatudeen Awwal, expressed delight at the choice of MIXTA


Africa for the project.

Executive Director Legal for Mixta Africa, Ugochukwu Ndubuisi, said the partnership was a welcome development as Mixta Africa takes pride in building communities.

“We have built properties in Lagos, Port Harcourt and now, we are in Abuja and we will use the Express View Estate project in Lugbe to showcase our capability. We will complete this project on time and move to other ones,” he said.