The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has described the allegation that the bank is enmeshed in N360billion fraud as false, baseless and totally misleading.
This is coming on the heels of a report by the national dailies (not LEADERSHIP) which alleged financial misappropriation at the bank amounting to N360billion.
A statement signed by the Group Head, Corporate Communications of FMBN, Mr Ahmed Abubakar and made available to LEADERSHIP Newspaper revealed that the current board and management of FMBN have championed the principles of professionalism and transparency in running the affairs of the bank through regular updates on its operations to the publics and stakeholders
Highlighting the operational performance of the bank in delivering affordable housing finance from April 2017 to January 2020, he said that within the last three years, being the tenure of the bank’s current management, that the bank mobilised a total of N138.5 billion as collections under the National Housing Fund (NHF) Scheme.
He pointed out that the figure accounted for 37 percent of the cumulative collections of N371.4 billion from 1992 till date.
Within the period, Abubakar said that the bank disbursed N88.6 billion while the sum of N22.9 billion (68% of a cumulative N33.7 billion) was refunded to about 158,000 Nigerian workers who exited the scheme in line with the provisions of the NHF Act.
The group head informed that the bank created 21,046 mortgage loans and disbursed 43,312 home renovation loans as part of strategies towards addressing the housing finance needs of low- and medium-income earners.
He stated that various categories of loans totaling 127.4 billion are at various stages of processing for disbursement to beneficiaries.
Speaking on the ongoing efforts to attract additional funding, Abubakar asserted that despite the modest achievements, that the management of the bank is not unmindful of the huge housing deficit.
“While FMBN aspires to do more, the bank is challenged by a weak capital base (only N2.56 billion of a mere N5 billion capital is paid up), and the funding of its operations is currently limited to the resources of the NHF scheme”, he added.
Given the challenges, he informed that the bank is aggressively seeking recapitalization to the tune of N500 billion and exploring opportunities for other sources of low-cost, long-term funds locally and globally, in addition to pursuing full compliance with the provisions of the NHF Act to address Nigeria’s housing funding gap.
He reiterated that the bank being a financial institution is also supervised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which conducts annual examination exercises, adding that internally, that the bank has also appointed an international audit firm that audits its financial statements in addition to oversights by the Offices of the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Auditor-General of the Federation as well as the relevant Committees of the National Assembly.
The group head disclosed that the current board of directors approved and is implementing corporate governance and risk management frameworks comparable to any financial institution in the world in line with banking regulations.
He said that the policy measures and regulatory oversights would ensure safety and prudence in the use of funds, inclusive of NHF contributions, under the management of the bank.
Abubakar pleaded with the media to verify information made available to them and balance their reports before publication in line with global tenets of the profession.
He assured that the board and management remained committed to repositioning FMBN as a stronger and more impactful institutional tool for the delivery of affordable housing to Nigerians in line with the ‘Next Level’ Agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari ‘s administration.
Source: Leadershipng
