Leading Reporters

Nyesom Wike – FCT Minister

Festus Keyamo – Minister of Aviation

Adebayo Adelabu- Minister Of Power

Adegboyega Oyetola – Minister of Transportation

Details later

The financial statement published this week and the first of its kind since 2015 said CBN filed over N3.2 trillion as “other operating expenses” under Emefiele.

The financial statement published this week and the first of its kind since 2015, said CBN filed over N3.2 trillion as “other operating expenses” under suspended governor Godwin Emefiele.

The so-called other operating expenses may contain opaque policies, including intervention funds, unsanctioned dealings and other clandestine and illegal expenditures. It is also susceptible to bogus and dubious expense filings.

CBN reported it spent N254 billion on “other operating expenses” in Mr Buhari’s first year in office.

The financial statement revealed that CBN filed N173.6 billion in 2016 — they reported N155 billion in 2017, N190 billion in 2018, and N247 billion in 2019.

The figures jumped to N442.5 billion in 2020. They increased tremendously and doubled the following year as CBN reported N884 billion, while N888 billion was spent on the so-called other operating expenses in 2022, amounting to N3.2 billion for eight years.

Mr Emefiele has been accused of manhandling the nation’s highest bank and splashed N100 million on the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary ticket in the February 25 general election race.

A few weeks into his tenure, President Bola Tinubu suspended Mr Emefiele, citing allegations of corruption regarding his office. He was subsequently arrested and charged to court by the State Security Service (SSS).

There are strong indications that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has settled for Nyesom Wike as the next
Minister of Works, according to a reliable Villa source who spoke to LeadingReporters on condition of
anonymity. The President is currently having a close-door meeting with Nyesom Wike.

The source further hinted that the President has approved that the Ministry of Works and Housing,
which has hitherto existed as one ministry be split into two ministries, namely – the Ministry of Works
and the Ministry of Housing.

“The necessary legal and legislative frameworks have been put in place to ensure this happens”.
Recall that Nyesom Wike, the immediate past governor of Rivers State was reputed to be one of the
governors with the highest investment in infrastructure, mostly roads and bridges. Nyesom Wike
delivered more than 900km of roads within Rivers State with massive state-of-the-art bridges.

His exceptional performance in infrastructural development endeared him to most Nigerians. Even
those in the opposition visited, commissioned, and praised him for his uncommon performances in
infrastructural development.

President Bola Tinubu was said to have settled for Works for Wike, against other propositions put
forward by his associates. He was said to have told his associates that it was better to put Wike where
he proved his competence and capabilities.

Wike, who is a member of the People Democratic Party fell out with his party soon after the Party
National Convention that saw former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar emerging as the party’s
presidential candidate. Atiku lost the election and petitioned the Presidential Election Tribunal

The proverb that a man is bathing in a river yet having soap in his eyes can’t be truer than in the case of the Nigerian housing challenge. This challenge has remained intractable in spite of the various conscious efforts made by successive Nigerian governments to rein in the monster of homelessness that has plagued the Nation.

Housing is a very critical issue in Nigeria which should command instant attention. Nigeria, a country of over 170 million people, with a huge percentage in the slums, while others are totally homeless, has obviously remained helpless in dealing with the problem

Walking through the streets of Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Aba and so forth, one is confronted with the eye sore of sham buildings, squatter settlements and other kinds of uninhabitable places, indicative of the fact that either there is no government or that the government is not concerned with the welfare of the citizens.

Nigeria’s housing deficit is a problem the various governments over time have tried to solve with various strategies. Several deft moves by the governments over time have proved unproductive. As far back as 1956, efforts had been made to tackle the housing problem by the setting up of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria is Nigeria’s major mortgage financial institution, saddled with the responsibility to provide funding for agencies and individuals to bridge the housing gap. Among its major mandates are to link the capital market to the housing industry in order to operate a viable housing sector, with view to making primary and secondary Mortgage institutions deliver service to every section of the country and management and administration of the contributory savings scheme known as the National Housing Fund (NHF) established by Act 3 of [1992].

The National Housing Fund (NHF) is a social savings scheme designed to mobilize long-term funds from Nigerian workers, banks, insurance companies and the Federal Government to advance concessionary loans to contributors. This means that there is a whole lot of money at the disposal of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria.

A lot of Nigerians are still homeless after many years of mortgage finance collected by the Federal Mortgage Bank. The rising cost of housing in Nigeria calls for serious concern. That has caused citizens to beam searchlights on the activities of the major mortgage financing institution and it was allegedly discovered that the bank has been diverting the huge funds collected yearly into other ventures. As economists would say, this has led to critical opportunity costs for the entire nation and especially the low income and no income earners. Such diversions have strangulated the housing sector and are stifling industrialization because a man needs a place to call home before thinking of starting a business.

Allegations are rife that the funds are diverted to cronies and friends of the leadership of the banks. Funds are allegedly disbursed without recourse to due process and objective. It could be noted, from the above, that the functions of the bank are strictly limited to providing affordable housing through working with other financial institutions to make funds available to those who want to go into the business of housing and allied ventures.

There is also the allegation of the reign of tribalism in the bank. Professionalism and ethics are by passed in favour of tribesmen and associates of the Chief Executive of the Institution. Recruitment and even promotion has remained a privilege of a select few who go on leave, sponsored trips abroad and other privileges at will. It is obvious to even the first timer to the building that a particular section of the country has unrestrained access to funds and privileges at the institution. With such a huge diversion of attention, the consequences are that the country is suffering at the hands of the unprofessional team manning the critical and one of the most important financial institutions in Nigeria.

Efforts made by our reporter the federal government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would do well to beam their search light on the institution to enable it deliver on its mandate and to save it from the hands of those who have turned it into their conduit pipe by which self-enrichment is facilitated. This would save our bourgeoning population and our nation from impending implosion.