MON, SEPT 11 2023-theGBJournal |The Vice President Kashim Shettima says Nigeria’s housing deficit remains huge as N21 trillion will be required to effectively bridge the gap, despite efforts by governments across different levels.
The Vice President echoed the concern on Sunday in Sokoto at the groundbreaking for the construction of a 500-unit Housing Estate by the State government as he commended the State Governor, Ahmed Aliyu for his efforts to address the housing needs of his people, noted that the housing deficit in Nigeria remained a huge challenge.
According to the VP, “Nigeria has a deficit of 28 million houses and we will need N21 trillion to meet our housing needs. This step taken by the Governor is highly commendable and worthy of emulation by other State governments.”
Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria put the country’s housing deficit at 28 million units as at January 2023.
This means that 28 million people or more are homeless, and according to the CBN, ”with a growing population of 200 million Nigerians, the current deficit is extremely high.”
Earlier in his remarks, Governor Aliyu said the housing estate will be for civil servants and would be sold to them when completed on an owner-occupier basis.
“This is a project that was initiated by the former Governor of the State, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko but was later abandoned by the immediate past administration but we are determined to complete it for the benefit of our workers and the general public,” he said.
The Governor disclosed that the project located at Wamakko Local Government Area of the State will cost the State government N7.3 billion to complete.
The event which was to mark 100 days in office by the administration was attended by Former Governor of Sokoto State, Sen. Aliyu Wamakko; Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari; Minister of State, Water Resources and Sanitation, Bello Goronyo and Former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Mukhtari Shagari, among others.
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