ABUJA (HoSF’ Report)- The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation Mrs. Winifred Oyo-ita has re-assured the Federal Civil Servants in the country of the sustainability of the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme of the Federal Government.
She gave the re-assurance when she met with the relevant stakeholders of the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme in her office on Thursday May 11, 2017.
According to her, one of the priorities of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is to address the housing deficit and improve the welfare of the Federal Public Servants for effective and efficient service delivery to Nigerians.
Mrs. Oyo who allays the fear of Nigerians and the Federal Civil Servants in particular that FISH Programme as a housing scheme may die-off like other previous housing schemes, said that the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari was determined in not only making FISH programme work, but also has already put in place machineries that will sustain it.
She said that a comprehensive brochure about the FISH programme will soon be made available free of charge to all applicants to create more awareness on the programme and correct the mis-perceptions of the guidelines and criteria involved before one is eligible to own his own house under the scheme.
In addition, she said her office has put in place stringent measures with adequate internal control mechanisms to address any attempt by some organizations, estate developers or individuals to frustrate the scheme.
She said that it is in line with this that she recently commissioned the ‘FISH Client Centre’, located at the ground floor of Block E, Federal Secretariat Complex phase 2, Abuja. The Centre according to her, has equipped staff on ground that would provide applicants with all relevant and necessary information to guide them on which house to apply for and also inform them of the various developers available on the platform of the programme.
The Head of Service urged the stakeholders to continue to partner and support the Federal Government in its resolve to address the housing challenges facing Nigerians and the Federal Civil Servants in particular.
Earlier, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) Arc. Ahmed Musa Dangiwa who spoke on behalf of other FISH stakeholders assured the Head of Service of their support of the scheme and expressed readiness to continue to partner with the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation particularly in the area of provision of affordable housing to the Federal Civil Servants under the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme of the Federal Government.
He said that his office has already commenced processing of the application forms of the Federal Civil Servants who have applied for the FISH programme.
Arc. Dangiwa assured further that all the relevant FISH stakeholders will continue to partner with the Federal Government to ensure the sustainability of the FISH housing scheme in order to help in addressing housing challenges faced by the Federal Civil Servants for improved productivity and service delivery to Nigerians.
Meanwhile, the Chairman FISH implementation Committee and Permanent Secretary Common Services Office in the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Yemi Adelakun informed that the meeting of the FISH stakeholders was convened to abreast the Head of Service on the level of the implementation of the FISH programme and the progress made so far.
