The Federal Government is working to ensure that Nigerian workers do not spend between 40 and 60 per cent of their income on house rent, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqha Darma, has said.
Darma disclosed this in a report published by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), while commending the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for supporting access to affordable housing for its workers.
The minister said excessive expenditure on rent could compel workers to seek additional sources of income to meet other family obligations, including payment of school fees and provision for the welfare of their families.
He warned that such financial pressure could create conditions capable of encouraging corruption.
“One important dimension is that people with families, if they tend to spend their own income, their own legitimate income on rent, then they will have to source other means of getting some money to do other things to take care of their families, their schooling, and the rest.
“And that is an impetus to corruption. So we are going to ensure that in this country, workers do not spend 40 to 60 per cent of their income on rent. We are going to ensure that that is done,” he said.
Darma said the Federal Government’s objective was to reduce the proportion of workers’ income spent on rent and increase access to decent and affordable housing.
He said the ultimate goal was to ensure that every unhoused Nigerian had a home.
According to the minister, about 110 million Nigerians are currently unhoused, while an estimated 16 million housing units are required to address the country’s housing deficit.
“But importantly, what we are trying to do is to make sure that every unhoused Nigerian gets housing, gets a place they call home,” he said.
Darma said the ministry had engaged stakeholders in the housing sector and relevant regulatory agencies to facilitate the provision of the required housing units within the coming months.
FG Targets Abandoned Housing Projects
The minister also disclosed that the Federal Government was taking stock of abandoned housing projects across the country as part of measures to address the housing deficit.
He said some of the abandoned projects dated back several years, including housing schemes initiated during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“There are so many housing projects, starting from the National Housing Programme and even long way back—even during General Obasanjo’s time—so many of them have been abandoned all over Nigeria, in all states,” Darma said.
He explained that the government was compiling statistics on the abandoned projects and visiting states where the properties were located.
According to him, the Federal Government was engaging state governors on the possibility of taking over or purchasing the abandoned housing projects, renovating them and converting them into serviceable homes for civil servants.
Darma said the government had identified close to 250,000 abandoned housing units nationwide.
He expressed optimism that if state governments could take over the 250,000 units within the next few months and allocate them to civil servants, the move would constitute significant progress in addressing the country’s housing shortage.
The minister reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to implementing the strategy, saying, “We are going to do it.”
