The Housing Development Advocacy Network (HDAN) has urged the Federal Government to convert the recently seized housing estate into a model social housing project that will guarantee affordable rental housing for Nigerians.
HDAN recently revealed that the seized property should not be sold off to the highest bidders.
Speaking via a press statement after the estate was visited by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, and the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, the Executive Director of HDAN, Festus Adebayo, said that the seized buildings should be restructured and retained under public ownership for the benefit of the country’s most vulnerable population, especially young people and low-income families.
Festus shared that Nigeria has a very rare opportunity to transform the seized assets into a national solution, so our leaders must do everything possible to take advantage while they still can.
“This is a golden opportunity to turn a seized asset into a national solution. We are proposing that the estate be remodeled into 1- and 2-bedroom units and allocated for heavily subsidized rental to Nigerians through a transparent and equitable process,” he said.
According to him, the properties should be allocated through a digital raffle draw, and interested participants should be able to buy the properties via a digital raffle draw connected to their Bank Verification Number (BVN), with one ticket costing N10,000.
He further adviced that the draw be done in public with Minister Ahmed Dangiwa in charge of rolling the raffle ball, suggesting that winners can be notified automatically through a text message, before they are eventually invited to formally pen their signature with the estate’s managing agency.
He noted that the profits from the raffle sales could easily generate as much as 10 billion naira if 1 million Nigerians partake in the draw, and that would be enough to fund the remodelling and completion of the estate.
“This makes it a self-financing social housing initiative eliminating the usual challenge of financial viability associated with rental housing.
It should be targeted at the younger population because they represent the most disadvantaged segment of the population in terms of access to decent housing. This is an opportunity to not only address an urgent housing need but also restore trust in government-led housing initiatives.
We need to start building a portfolio of well-managed, publicly owned social rental housing. This project presents a zero-cost entry point for the government to do just that.
This approach not only ensures fairness, transparency, and efficiency,” Adebayo concluded, “but it also sets a precedent for how we handle recovered assets going forward, turning lost wealth into social dividends,” he added.
Folami David writes on trends and pop culture. He is a creative writer, and he is passionate about music and football.
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