Nigeria housing expert calls for federal-state harmonisation to close 28 million-unit deficit
Written on
Benjamin Onigbinde, chief executive of Sigvent Property Trust and convener of Housing First, says Nigeria's target of 200 housing units per local government area will not be met without harmonised federal and state policies on land, approvals and mortgages.
A Nigerian property development expert, Benjamin Onigbinde, has called for closer collaboration between the Federal Government and the states to address a housing deficit he puts at more than 28 million units, warning that policy differences are slowing delivery under the Renewed Hope housing programme.
Onigbinde, chief executive of Sigvent Property Trust Limited and convener of Housing First, said in a statement issued on 16 October 2026 that the Federal Government's target of delivering 200 housing units per local government area requires coordinated planning, financing and implementation by both tiers of government. He said differences in policy, land administration, building approval processes and mortgage requirements could undermine efforts to expand access to affordable housing.
He said the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria and Family Homes Funds must work more closely with state housing corporations and the ministries responsible for lands and housing. He identified the recovery of abandoned housing estates, improved access to housing finance and capacity building across the housing supply chain as the three areas needing the most urgent attention, and proposed a joint audit and revitalisation programme for abandoned federal and state estates.
According to Onigbinde, completing those estates could add more than 100,000 units to the national stock at a lower cost than building new ones, and he called for harmonised land titles, building approvals and mortgage requirements to simplify homeownership. "We cannot build 200 units per Local Government Area in isolation. Housing is built on land owned by states, with artisans from communities, and bought by citizens whose income is local," he said.
He proposed that the Federal Government provide policy direction, guarantees and mortgage liquidity while state governments make land available, provide infrastructure and mobilise prospective beneficiaries, and urged the ministry to convene a national-state housing harmonisation roundtable in early 2027 to agree design standards, construction costs, financing models and beneficiary selection.