The Senate Committee on Housing and Urban Development has pledged support to the Renewed Hope Housing Agenda under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and called for more funding.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Aminu Tambuwal said this during an oversight visit to the ministry on Wednesday in Abuja.

Mr Tambuwal said the oversight was necessary to know the progress of projects and ensure that funds appropriated were spent in accordance with extant laws and regulations.

He said, “Democracy is all about checks and balances to ensure that the right thing is done by the agencies among other things. As we appropriate, we also go around and see whether the money is released and if released, are being applied judiciously. We are ready to support the programme of the Federal Government in providing affordable housing for Nigerians under the renewed hope housing agenda. We believe that more money should be given to the Ministry of Housing because this is one great sector that will generally distribute wealth to the lowest of the low.’’

Mr Tambuwal said that the committee was concerned with the incessant building collapses in the country and called for stricter regulatory actions.

He added, “The issue of building collapse is becoming a big issue in Nigeria and it largely has to do with the way most of these projects have been implemented by using substandard materials and not following the designs. I think the regulatory authorities should step up and ensure to reverse this ugly trend.’’

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, said the ministry was working towards the actualisation of the renewed hope housing agenda of the President.

Mr Dangiwa said that the groundbreaking for the Renewed Hope Cities had been done in 13 sites funded by the 2023 supplementary budget.

He said, “We have one city in Kano and then the other two in each of the political zones of the country. They are happy with the spread of the estate, that it covers the entire nation.

They are also happy that the project cuts across all political parties. So no one will talk of favouritism to the ruling party or any other party.’’

Mr Dangiwa said that the ministry was also working on slum upgrade and urban renewal in over 28 sites across the country.

He noted that the committee was happy with the progress of the project so far and advocated  more funding for the ministry to the tune of  N500 billion.

The minister said, “If you give the Federal Ministry of Housing N500 billion, give them two years, they will return nothing less than N300 billion to the coffers of the government by selling these houses, even with little subsidy to the nation.’’

Mr Dangiwa said that the ministry had put measures in place to avert building collapse while delivering affordable housing to Nigerians.

This, he said, was by ensuring proper design by qualified consultants, proper planning approval done by the professionals in the planning authorities and rejection of substandard building materials.

He stated, “We have to ensure that the contractors executing the projects are qualified contractors, not political contractors who don’t have to go through the specifications before they implement it. So these are some of the measures  that we have put in place to ensure that we curb building collapse and we ensure that planning authorities in charge with supervision of construction sites monitor them.’’

 (NAN)