……Charges members to develop implementation strategy to transform Nigeria’s built environment.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Engr. Muttaqa Rabe Darma, has inaugurated a Ministerial Committee on the Implementation Framework for the Validated Stakeholder Resolutions on Housing Sector Reforms, tasking members with turning stakeholder recommendations into concrete action for Nigeria’s built environment sector.
The 14-member committee comprises of members drawn from the Ministry’s technical departments and its relevant agencies, and chaired by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
Part of the committee’s terms of reference are to drive and coordinate the implementation of the reform measures contained in the Implementation Framework, to develop a detailed work plan specifying priority actions, timelines and deliverables, and to monitor progress to ensure assigned actions are delivered within approved timelines, among others.
Speaking at the inauguration, Darma recalled that stakeholders across the housing industry had earlier converged for a validation conference to review the housing deficit data compiled by the Ministry and to set out a policy direction for transforming the sector.
He said the workshop produced recommendations now grouped into three categories which are: those the Ministry can implement immediately, those requiring the go-ahead of the Presidential Council, and those that will require legislative action.
The Minister said the Ministry’s core mandate remains housing Nigerians directly or creating the enabling environment for citizens to house themselves, describing this as a responsibility that the Ministry takes seriously.
He also stressed the need to strengthen regulation of the built environment so it can contribute more meaningfully to the national economy.
Citing 2025 data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Darma noted that the sector currently contributes about 17 percent to Nigeria’s economy, compared to between 22 and 27 percent in similar economies such as South Africa and Kenya.
He expressed confidence that with the right reforms, Nigeria’s housing sector could close that gap and become a leading driver of national economic growth.
Darma charged committee members to work diligently, noting they had been carefully selected to lead the sector’s transformation. “We don’t know the word impossible, all we see is possibility,” he said, urging the team to deliver a robust implementation strategy within the six weeks given for the assignment.
Accordingly, he also charged members of the committee to develop a workable implementation strategy that will transform the entire built environment industry and position it as a major driver of Nigeria’s economy.
The Minister further described the committee as central to building a housing sector that accommodates every stakeholder while becoming a major contributor to the national economy.
Responding on behalf of the committee, the Permanent Secretary Dr. Shuaib Belgore who is also the chairman of the committee, described the assignment as a privilege aimed at improving housing outcomes for Nigerians, standardising practice across the housing sector, and unlocking its potential contribution to the nation’s GDP.
He commended the Minister’s transformative leadership, noting that the housing sector had continued to attract national attention due to the pace of activities under his watch, including groundbreaking ceremonies, estate handovers, and stakeholder consultations, assuring him that the committee shared his urgency to deliver results.
The Permanent Secretary said the committee had already been handed a working document that would be reviewed thoroughly to identify gaps and refine it into an effective framework, pledging the committee’s full cooperation and loyalty to deliver its mandate within the six-week timeframe given.
Belgore noted that further stakeholder consultations would be held as the implementation framework takes shape, to ensure wide support, and thanked the Minister on behalf of the committee for the opportunity to serve in the effort to ensure Nigerian families are properly housed.
On their part, the Managing Director of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Shehu Usman Osidi commended the Minister for the reform initiative, noting that some proposals already align with steps the bank has taken.
Drawing on FMBN’s past experience, where attempts to push through the NHF and FMBN Acts, and later a N500 billion recapitalisation bid, stalled due to stakeholder pushback, he stressed that effective stakeholder consultation would be critical to the reforms’ success this time.
Also speaking on behalf of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), whose Managing Director was unavoidably absent, a representative expressed the agency’s commitment to the reform process.
He said it was FHA’s vision to see the Ministry, under the Minister’s leadership, emerge as the leading ministry in the country, and assured that the agency would work closely with the committee to deliver results that would make Nigerians, the President, and the Minister proud.
Badamasi Haiba, Fsca, mnipr
Director Press and Public Relations
