By PERPETUA ONUEGBU

The Federal Government has unveiled the portal for the sale of the completed houses under the National Housing Programme (NHP).

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, who launched the portal on Friday, in Abuja, explained that portal was opened in all the 34 states, including FCT.

According to him, government introduced the portal to ensure that all Nigerians who are desirous of owning any of the categories of the houses have equal opportunity to apply, own them and also to ensure transparency in the process.

“We urge government at all levels as well as Nigerians to use this opportunity and apply.

“We just converge to introduce the portal for the public to be able to apply for the National Housing Programme online with the website: https://nhp.worksandhousing.gov.ng.

“This will help to implement the economic purpose and blueprint because by the time we are done with this idea, the country will not have problem with the recession and that objective will be fulfilled.

“We have five phases of these projects. We are done with phase 1, and phase 2, we will soon be done with phase 3, and I want to emphasis that this will be the only solution to market these houses,” Fashola said.

The minister added that the houses were in one bedroom, two bedrooms, three bedrooms and Duplex categories and the cost ranges from N9 million to N16 depending what a person wants, adding that it was not restricted to NHF subscribers alone.

“We have different types of contractors; first, medium size, which is the businesses own by Nigerians.

“And, there will also be international businesses that will be involved and this will give them the opportunity not only to contribute for the sustainable development and but also to their staff,” he said.

Fashola commended the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) for being at the forefront of the cooperative housing initiative at the federal level.

He urged the FMBN and Federal Housing Authority (FHA) to utilise the site to dispose their own stock of houses and properties.

Also at the launch, the Chairman, Nigerian Guild of Editor, Mr Isa Mustapha, who logged on to the portal commended the minister for a work well done, adding that the portal was users friendly.

He assured the minister that the guild would help popularise the portal so that as many Nigerians that want to, could apply and buy a home of their choice.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that about 5,000 houses are ready for purchase in phase 1and 2 in 34 states and the FCT, Phase 3 is underway with Rivers and Lagos states.

NAN also reports that to get started at the application, applicants must have a passport photograph, tax clearance, payslip, and means of identification. (NAN)

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