No housing loan to civil servants who do not adhere to guidelines —Fika

The Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board (FGSHLB) will not give loans to civil servants who do not adhere to the guidelines of the board.

Dr Hannatu Fika, the Executive Secretary of the board, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Fika noted that some beneficiaries of the board’s loan facility did not utilise the money for the original purpose and warned against such practice.

She explained that civil servants who had received the first installment of their loans only get the second installment if the first one was judiciously applied.

“The second installment is paid when you have judiciously utilised the first payment because quite a number of public servants will collect the first installment and use it for something else and at their own pace.

“So, where our verification exercise does not indicate that the first installment has been judiciously used, we will not release the second one until we have substantially seen on ground that those who are beneficiaries of our loan have used the first loan well.

“It is very rare for us to start deducting second installment without paying the second one; but when that is done and our attention is drawn to it, we quickly release the second instalment.

“We have a technical division in the board that goes to the nooks and crannies of the country to ensure that civil servants, who get these loans, utilise it.’’

According to her, many civil servants also receive approval letters for their loan and they don’t follow up.

Commenting on the N13 billion partnership between the Nigeria Mortgage Refinancing Company (NMRC) and the board, Fika said that efforts were being made to ensure the release of the money.

“We are working on a N13 billion refinancing; in anticipation of the money, we are processing approvals, so that we begin to document those who are interested in the loan.

“We don’t want to do a fire brigade thing and then make mistakes that are dangerous.

“At present, we have a government that is interested in ensuring that public servants own their own homes. I encourage public servants to continue to bear with the system.

“We have developed in our office a first come, first serve system of giving loans.

“We are partnering with the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) under the N1 million Renovation Loan.

“The loan will be given to 700 civil servants and we are targeting the Civil Service Week so that they will know that government is interested in their welfare,’’ the executive secretary said.