Social Housing Bill to receive Presidential assent

Sponsors of Social Housing Bill are billed to present the document to President Muhammadu Buhari to enable him assent to it and send as an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, New Telegraph has learnt. The bill, which was expected to be part of the last minutes bills passed into law by the 7th National Assembly, was left out due to reasons known only to the senators. Speaking exclusively to our corresppndent, Chairman, Ministerial Committee on the Presidential 10,000 Homes Initiative, Mr. Ezekiel Nya Etok, an architect, said that the Social Housing Bill 2014 had passed the first and second readings before the expiration of the last government, but that the legislators refused to passed it along the 46 bills passed into law under 10 minutes in the last dispensation. He said the bill would now be represented to the National Assembly by President Buhari as an Executive Bill to be part of his achievements in his 500 days in office.

He said that the issues of funding and implementing agency were major obstacles to the passage of the bill before now, adding that these matters had been resolved. He said: “We have decided to make the bill available to Mr. President for it to go as an Executive Bill as part of his achievement in 500 days.” The Social Housing Bill is an act to establish the Social Housing Scheme to fund the construction, maintenance and distribution of houses built mainly with locally sourced materials, by the Federal Housing Authority.

The scheme is expected to provide for funds, which will be warehoused by the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria for the construction of various housing units nationwide in a decent and suitable environment to Nigerians. The bill will also allow the Federal Ministry of Housing to construct houses with locally sourced materials. Nya Etok said the funding issue had been resolved, noting that beneficiaries would have to put down the money they can afford, while grants are also expected from agencies, nongovernmental organisation to produce social housing. He also stated that tax up to 20 percent on luxury goods would be channeled on social houses provision. He explained that provision of housing to every Nigerian is entrenched in the constitution, adding that the government has the responsibility to ensure that every citizen is housed.