Tinubu says over 15,000 homes under construction nationwide, defends housing reforms

By Precious Mark

President Bola Tinubu has said more than 15,000 housing units are currently under construction across the country, as he defended his administration’s efforts to tackle Nigeria’s housing deficit and expand access to affordable home ownership.

In a post shared on his official X handle on Tuesday, the President said the housing programme under his Renewed Hope Agenda had moved beyond promises, with thousands of homes already being built and new financing options helping more Nigerians become homeowners.

According to Tinubu, one of the key pledges of his administration was to make decent housing affordable and create a pathway for hardworking Nigerians to own homes instead of spending years paying rent.

“When I placed the Renewed Hope Agenda before Nigerians, I did not speak of housing in vague terms. I gave my word that this administration would work to make decent homes affordable again, and that a hardworking family, after years of paying rent, would finally have a path to a house of its own,” he said.

The President said the government had initially set a target of 100,000 homes nationwide, with 50,000 units planned for the first phase through housing cities and estates spread across the country.

Giving an update on the programme, Tinubu said work had already commenced on more than 3,000 homes in Karsana, Abuja, while the 2,000-unit housing project in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, was nearing completion and already open for sale.

“What stands today is no longer a drawing. We broke ground on more than 3,000 homes at Karsana in Abuja, the 2,000-unit city at Ibeju-Lekki in Lagos has reached advanced completion with sales already underway, and across the country, more than 15,000 units are rising as I write this.”

Tinubu said his administration had also focused on addressing structural challenges in the housing sector, including land registration, access to construction equipment and the high cost of building materials.

He noted that efforts were underway, in collaboration with the World Bank, to increase formal land registration and unlock the economic value of land assets that had remained undocumented for years.

The President also highlighted measures aimed at improving access to housing finance, saying 1,859 families across 25 states had obtained mortgages worth N128 billion through the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Real Estate Investment Fund.

According to him, the mortgages come with a fixed interest rate of 9.75% and repayment periods of up to 20 years.

“Terms our people were told for a generation they would never see,” he said.

Tinubu added that the Family Homes Funds programme was providing housing support for widows and low-income earners as part of a broader target to deliver 500,000 homes and create about 1.5 million jobs.

While acknowledging that Nigeria’s housing shortage remains significant, the President said the country was making progress.

“I will not stand before you and declare the work finished, because it is not. The housing deficit this nation carries is counted in the millions, and it will take years of steady labour to close.”

He, however, argued that the difference under the current administration is that all parts of the housing value chain from land acquisition and construction to financing and home ownership are now being addressed simultaneously.

Tinubu further described housing as more than a social welfare issue, saying investments in the sector were contributing to economic growth, job creation and national development.

“Renewed Hope was never charity,” the President said. “It is the right of every Nigerian to a place called home.”