Mr. Festus Adebayo, a lawyer, is the Executive Director, Housing Advocacy Network of Nigeria; (HDAN). In this interview with DAYO AYEYEMI, the affordable housing advocate, who doubles as the Lead Promoter, African International Housing Show, speaks on various issues ranging from the need for major collaboration between the government and credible real estate developers in the provision of low- income houses to Nigerians; and how to end activities of land grabbers in the FCT. He also shed light on what industry’s stakeholders, including Experts: real estate developers, building materials manufacturers and the public stand to gain in AIHS 2025.

How do we identify a credible real estate developer?

We identify credible real estate developers by their performance and by their delivery. It is not a developer who has been in business for 10 years and has no record of one estate built where people are living and where you see infrastructure and where you can go and confirm from people what they have to say about the developer.

A credible developer is not the one that collects money from subscribers and refuses to pick his call after he had collected money. A credible developer is not the one that made a pledge and refuses to keep it. A credible developer is the one that keeps his promise; is the one that delivered in line with the promise made. A credible developer has an office, has a structure, and has evidence of financial capacity to do his business.

How can both the government and the private sector collaborate to promote affordable housing?

The role of the government in the provision of low-cost housing for the low-income group cannot be overemphasied. I must say without their involvement at this crucial period of the country, it will be difficult for any private real estate developer to deliver in the low-income group

What we need to deliver houses for the low-income group is the intervention, support from the government – access to land, reduction in the amount being paid to different agencies – development control, building control, and all sort of agencies. Also, there is need for intervention in the area of mortgage support. That is the only way forward! That is, support in the area of land, support in the area of infrastructure, because when the developer put the cost of infrastructure, especially the secondary – the road that leads to that estate, no electricity near the area and the developer has to provide the electricity. These are the categories of infrastructure I am talking about. I also said, until when the government says I want to give whoever that is building houses for the low-income group waivers in so so areas that we have effect on the cost of those houses when they are built. Today, what we have is the reverse. You pay so much on your land, you pay compensation, you buy transformer, you do the road, and you pay huge interest on the money borrowed from bank. That’s the challenge.

What can be done to end the era of land grabbers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)?

It is time for the FCT administration to establish the Real Estate Regulatory Department, where anybody that wants to do real estate business will be managed. We have such in Dubai, a department under their ministry on land and housing. We need to have one. Somebody wants to do a project of N10 million, drop a certain amount with the government to show that he or she has the capacity to deliver the job, while the documents of the land are submitted and verified. A situation where the subscribers are protected, where erring estate developers are punished, and not the one that will commit crime, defraud people and have his way by bribing. That is why the idea of regulation is key. We must bring sanity to the business of real estate. We must protect the subscribers and the investors, who are the real estate developers. It’s the government that will do this by creating a department devoid of corruption with people who can do the job professionally and not with the people that will convert the department to be collecting dollars. The issues of land grabbing, cloning documents of land that belongs to another person on the pretence that if you go to court, you will have delivered the building before the court will act, are not acceptable. The National Assembly must also assist in this area. All the state assemblies must also support. The example of the Lagos State Real Regulatory Agency must be domiciled in other states throughout the federation.

What do you mean when you said that the Federal Government should give land to the people who are still developing?

What I mean is, give land to those developers who have capacity, who have evidence of performance, who have evidence of financial capacity, that when land is given to them, they will not just get the land and not start working to deliver the houses that we need. So, that is what we mean.

We mean that because we have observed that some of them have completed the forms at Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) for five years, queuing that the land will reach them. No. Majority of them bought the land and when the land is bought, you should know that the price will be doubled, if not tripled. So, what we’re advocating for is where they can have direct allocation of the land, which is by far better.

In the past, under the El- Rufai administration , lands were being given to developers that met all their conditions. – Give us this evidence of financial capacity, let us have letters from your bank, that they are behind you by saying that the land is given to you for a certain number of years -three years. If you don’t start, we revoke it. That is exactly what we are talking about and not that a developer will buy the land from politicians who are friends to the minister, who are friends to the people in government, and then used the backyard to get the land. And then, when they buy the land, they are going to use it only for business, they are not using it for the business that can employ people, for the business that will engage the carpenters and the bricklayers. Their own is to sell and make money. But when it goes directly to the developer, it goes straight to create the impact we need. We will see the effect on the economy when they employ bricklayers, employ carpenters, employ different categories of workers and even employ many categories of skilled labour. That is what we are saying. Let’s give the land to genuine developers. Let them have access to land, and not those people who only have access to the land and sell it to make profits. Those ones are not adding any value. Let’s give the land to the one adding value that we are clamouring for. Give the land to those who can build the houses, employ the people, and create an economy.

What is HDAN doing in the area of advocacy concerning real estate regulation?

It has not been so easy in this area. Housing Development Advocacy Network has been working very hard. I can inform you that we are making a lot of efforts. As a leading and founding housing advocacy organization, we have been consistently demanding that more attention must be given to housing, because of the effect it can create in the economy.

We can tell you that we are achieving our goal because this is not how the business used to be before. You can see what is going on in Lagos; so many people are into real estate: We have realtors and others. These are part of the consequence of our advocacy. Come to Abuja and how real estate is turning around the life of a lot of people. But we have to arrest irregularities, the scammers, and that is what we are working on. I can inform you that we have established a lobby group, whose responsibility is to lobby government.

And that’s one of the reasons we are clamouring for the establishment of a regulatory department: Real Estate Regulatory Department as we have it in Dubai, we need it also in FCT because real estate is the oil of FCT. Therefore, it must be given attention, government must not be too carefree about this because a lot of people are falling victims.

I can inform you how we are helping a lot of people to recover their money from criminal estate developers. Some collected money for infrastructure but failed to provide infrastructure. A good number of them are called real estate developers, but what they are doing is selling off land.

So there is a need for us to work with the government to know those selling land and those building houses in order to bring sanity to the system.

Give the update about the forthcoming African International Housing Show 2025.

Africa International Housing Show (AIHS) is having a landmark partnership with the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development for the 19th edition of the event, scheduled to hold from 27th July to 1st August, 2025 at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

With the theme “Reimagining Housing Through Innovation, Collaboration, and Policy,” this year’s show aims to spotlight sustainable strategies and practical reforms that can accelerate housing delivery across Africa.

A central focus of the 2025 edition will be addressing land administration, land reform, and land policy, critical foundations required for building truly affordable housing.

This year’s collaboration with the ministry represents a major leap forward for the housing and construction sector.

We are honoured to have the Honourable Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa, as the Chief Host of this pivotal edition.

The recent elevation of housing to a standalone federal ministry has created renewed momentum for transforming the housing landscape in Nigeria.

This year’s partnership brings new energy and deeper engagement. Together, we aim to open up access to land, promote local production of building materials, and support innovation that will make affordable housing a reality.

Who are the participants?

Over 21 countries are expected to participate in AIHS 2025, with more than 400 exhibitors and thousands of visitors, including top-tier developers, construction experts, policy leaders, and housing finance institutions. The event will also promote strategic connections between Nigerian free zones and international investors, with an emphasis on local manufacturing, job creation, and public-private collaboration.

Recognizing that land accessibility remains a bottleneck for developers and home seekers alike, AIHS 2025 will feature policy dialogues with state governors, commissioners of housing, and planning officials.

The role of state governments in simplifying land titling and releasing land for housing development is crucial. We want AIHS to be the platform where real reforms are agreed upon and acted upon.

The event will boast a powerful lineup of supporters, including Dangote Cement, IFC World Bank, African Union for Housing Finance (AUHF), Brains & Hammers, Urban Shelter, MOFI, Nedcomoaks, Mshel Homes, Lafarge, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Family Homes Funds, CDK Integrated Industries, Sinoma Nigeria Company Ltd, Hall7, Copen Group and others. It also enjoys the backing of international companies and delegations from Dubai, China, the UK, and Italy.

Institutional partners include major professional bodies such as the Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria (REDAN), Association of Housing Corporations of Nigeria (AHCN), Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) and Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) among others. (Nigerian Tribune)