NIESV, Minister advocate for accurate Data Bank for Housing

   The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) in Abuja has acknowledge the assertion made by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr.  Babatunde Fashola, SAN that Nigeria does not have a 17million housing deficit.

President of NIESV, ESV Emmanuel Okas Wike, made this position known when the Institution paid a courtesy visit to the Minister, stressing that the body was in full agreement with the Minister because there was no scientific proof on the figure which had been

In his opening remarks at the Ministry’s Conference Room in Mabushi, the NIESV President told the Minister, “We are in total agreement with you on the unreliability of the 17million housing deficit being brandished in Nigeria for lacking scientific proof. We are using this opportunity to reaffirm the importance of data bank and our commitment to the provision of property data bank for all state capitals and major cities in Nigeria.’’

Wike announced that plans were ongoing to carry out enumeration of wasting and abandoned properties across the state capitals, most of which belongs to government at various levels, while the Institute would make recommendations on what could be done with them.

In his response, Fashola said, “there is more demand in housing due to people that move from rural areas to urban centres to squat in the city, and when demand exceeds supply there will be scarcity adding that the solution lay in having accurate data of empty houses in the cities.”

The Minister commended NIESV  for the endorsement on the non-existence of the 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria, which put an authoritative seal on the controversy.

He urged the Institute to come up with accurate data on the housing issue, noting that such a data would help towards solving the housing problem.

Commenting on the Land Use Act, the Minister said, “The law is not the problem, it is not enough to say repeal the law, the communities fighting over land resulted in enacting the Land Use Act. Every section of the Land Use Act has been interpreted by the Supreme Court. Administration of the law is the problem rather than the law itself.”