Abuja – Some applicants seeking loan from the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board have accused the board of fraudulent practices.
The applicants made the accusation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday.
Some of the applicants decried the lack of information on the status of their applications three to four years after fulfilling all the stipulated requirements, including payment of insurance fees.
Another category that had received part of the loan more than two years ago and completed the necessary formalities to qualify for the second tranche, including payment of insurance fees, had also not been contacted.
“For the past four years, I was given the first part of the money but up till now, I am yet to get the balance to enable me to complete my building,’’ an applicant who spoke on condition of anonymity, told NAN.
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She told NAN that the deduction of the money from her salary had commenced even when the full payment had yet to be received.
The respondents alleged that while civil servants in the lower cadre were kept waiting, the fund was being disbursed to very senior civil servants such as directors and permanent secretaries as well as senior military officers.
As a result of this, hundreds of applicants who had completed the necessary formalities, had been kept waiting without a word on whether or not they would be able to access this loan and when.
“It is like waiting for “Godot’’. I have spent a reasonable amount of money to complete the necessary formalities required.
“All I hear from the office is that there is no money. They say that the files have been batched and numbered and that payment will follow that sequence.’’
Some beneficiaries who got part of the money due to them, said they have had to take loan from other sources to complete their housing projects and were currently repaying both loans.
They also accused some staff of the board of demanding money from the applicants to assist them in facilitating the processing of their loan.
“I will first of all petition the Executive Secretary of the board and if I do not get a favourable response from her, I will sue the board for being fraudulent,’’ an applicant, Mr Ugochukwu Livinus, said.
Livinus, whose file number in the board is HB40109, is a senior civil servant in one of the agencies in the Ministry of Information and culture.
According to him, he got approval for N5 million building loan from the board in April 2013 after paying a non-refundable N65,000 insurance fee for mortgage and accidental expenses.
He added that the payment was made to the board`s Central Pay Office while the loan approval letter, was signed by the executive secretary. These , he said , had convinced him, that the loan was real.
“Besides paying the N65, 000, I also committed my hard earned money as a poor civil servant to do a building plan and bill of quantity.
“All this I did because of my belief in the system; but now I know better.’’
He alleged that some officials of the board, in collaboration with some private developers, were preventing civil servants from accessing the loan.
According to him, the application of would-be beneficiaries who agree to work with private developers, in concert with officials of the board, are approved almost immediately.
He added that in such cases, once the loan was approved, the private developer would give the beneficiary whatever he liked, claiming that rest of the money was for infrastructural development.
Another applicant, Mrs Kudirat Alakija, whose application was approved since 2012, had yet to receive the loan with only five years of service to go.
Alakija said that her greatest challenge was that board had informed her that her original land documents were missing.
“My greatest challenge now is that the board claims that my original land documents which I submitted with the application is missing.
“For heaven`s sake they should give me my land documents since it is obvious that I may not get the N4 million that was approved for me.’’
Alakija, whose file number in the board is HB39489, also urged the relevant authorities to investigate the board, claiming that the fraud ongoing on in the board was alarming.
Similarly, Mrs Simbiat Adeleke and Mrs Bola Ajamgbadi, who are also loan applicants, urged the government to investigate the board`s activities.
Meanwhile, a director in one of the government parastatals, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, agreed on the urgent need to scrutinize the board’s activities.
She queried the board’s claim of lack of funds as the reason for non-payment of beneficiaries’ approved loans.
“How can the board claim no money as the reason for non-payment while it is recovering loans directly from beneficiaries salaries?
“This is supposed to be a revolving loan and the board got a substantial amount from the immediate past administration.
“The board needs to render an account on how it disbursed the initial money it received and how much it has so far recovered, in order to convince anybody that it lacks the fund to continue paying approved loans.
“Again, why should it continue to approve loans if it has no money to pay. Something is fishy about the board’s activities which the government should move in and uncover.’’
The director said that deduction of the second tranche of the loan approved for her in 2011 was already ongoing even though she had not received the money.
“IPPIS has started deducting the second instalment more than six months ago and all I hear from the board is no money, be patient.
“I believe the board does not have an efficient and effective way of tracking repayments otherwise, they should be able to know when one’s payment is due and pay accordingly,’’ the director said.
She called for a total overhaul of the board, saying that is fraught with a lot of irregularities.
Meanwhile, Mr Akinwale Adegbola, Head of the Public Relations unit of the board, has attributed the inability of the board to pay approved loans to inadequate funding.
Adegbola said that the board`s funding challenge was however, not insurmountable, as it was making efforts to address the situation.
He appealed to applicants who had yet to receive the loan to be patient with the board.
He also advised those who were fortunate to have received the first instalment and were waiting for the second tranche to re-apply.
Similarly, those whose monies were being deducted for the second instalment which they had not received, should write to the board, he said.
“You must see us as a government primary mortgage institution; if you are still in service and you do not want to collect the second trenche of the loan, write to us to stop it.’’
According to Adegbola, if this is not done, such deductions may continue because the entire loan repayment period has been programmed to last for a certain period.
He further advised beneficiaries whose monies were still being deducted while they were no longer interested in the loan, to also write to the board for refund of such excess deduction.
NAN recalls that the board, in 2015, set up a committee to recover loans given to undisclosed persons.
Meanwhile, some civil servants have decried the absence of quality housing programme for civil servants, noting that majority of them live in several slums in the FCT and across the country.
They expressed regret that Federal Government efforts provide affordable housing for civil servants had yet to be realised. (NAN)
