The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has expressed willingness to assist staff of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) own affordable houses in Abuja and environs.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) of FMBN, Ahmed Dangiwa, gave the assurance when a team from NITDA, led by its Director General (DG), Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, paid a courtesy call on the bank in Abuja on Thursday.
Dangiwa’s assurance of support was in response to a request by the NITDA DG on the FMBN to support staff of the agency to obtain affordable housing loans.
Dangiwa said part of the strategic focus of the bank, which is the foremost secondary mortgage institution in Nigeria with focus on housing delivery, was to strengthen the partnership and relationship with its stakeholders.
He said the bank was into to collaboration with so many other stakeholders such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Employers Consultative Council (NECA) to deliver over 100 houses in every state of the country.
He, therefore, urged NITDA to also take advantage of the bank’s mortgage products and act as good ambassadors to the FMBN brand.
“We will designate a desk officer who will liaise with your organisation in order to further guide you on how to access these products and services,” Dangiwa told the NITDA team.
He expressed FMBN’s gratitude to the agency for “expeditiously” granting the bank certification for the procurement and deployment of its core banking application, saying the application would consolidate the bank’s effort towards automation of its entire process.
Earlier, the DG of NITDA, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, said the agency’s mission to the bank was to improve relationship between the two institutions.
He said, “I know if you want your staff to do well, you have to take care of them.”
Pantami said NITDA, established to implement the national IT policy and serve as IT clearing house for all government institutions, set up a committee to look into how its staff could get affordable accommodation in Abuja and environs.
He explained that housing was one of the main challenges plaguing members of staff of the agency, which he wanted FMBN to help solve through affordable loans.