Governance
APDC, Abuja Investment Company Urged to Expand Affordable Housing Schemes
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, says the FCT Administration is prioritising affordable housing schemes to enable young Nigerians, school leavers and other low-income residents to secure accommodation and begin their lives in Abuja.
The minister, who stated this while commissioning housing units at Abuja Property Development Company (APDC) Homes in Karasana District, Abuja, said the initiative was part of efforts by the administration to address the housing needs of different categories of residents in the nation’s capital.
Represented by the Group Managing Director of Abuja Investment Company, Mrs Maureen Tamuno, the minister said the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, was paying particular attention to the housing needs of young people and other categories of Nigerians who might otherwise struggle to secure decent accommodation in Abuja.
“President Bola Tinubu has decided to take care of different cadres of people, especially the young persons.”
According to the minister, government-owned agencies such as the Abuja Property Development Company and Abuja Investment Company are expected to identify residents’ housing needs and develop projects that respond directly to those needs.
He directed the agency to explore opportunities to develop more affordable housing units to meet growing demand, stressing that access to accommodation remained one of the major challenges facing residents of Abuja.
“Once you have accommodation, especially in a city like Abuja, you have solved one of the major problems facing residents.”
He urged APDC to sustain its focus on housing schemes targeted at different income groups, saying increased access to homeownership could reduce accommodation pressures and contribute to improving residents’ welfare.
The Acting Managing Director of APDC, Akeem Aderogba, said the agency was committed to providing affordable homes for low- and middle-income earners through housing designs that cater to different household sizes and income levels.
Aderogba said the company’s housing portfolio included studio apartments, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom flats, providing opportunities for residents to move into larger homes as their families and financial circumstances changed.
He encouraged young people and civil servants to take advantage of available mortgage schemes, saying prospective homeowners could make an initial deposit of about 10 per cent and finance the balance through approved housing finance institutions.
He listed the National Housing Fund, Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board and other mortgage schemes among the financing options available to eligible applicants.
Aderogba said younger workers were particularly well placed to access housing loans because repayments could be spread over their remaining years in service.
He urged civil servants and other prospective homeowners to explore available financing options early rather than wait until retirement before attempting to acquire homes.
Also speaking, a private developer, Alhaji Bashir Jimoh, said reducing Nigeria’s housing deficit required more than the construction of housing units.
He called for improved access to land titles, mortgage finance and infrastructure, particularly roads linking housing estates to existing communities.
According to him, inadequate documentation often prevents Nigerians from accessing housing finance, making homeownership more difficult.
Jimoh also urged the government to provide access roads and other infrastructure for new housing developments, saying such facilities were essential to making estates accessible and viable for residents.