By Atlantic Reports

Sokoto State Commissioner for Lands, Housing, Survey and Town Planning, Alhaji Nasiru Dantsoho, has called for single-digit mortgage interest rates and wider access to housing finance for traders, farmers and other informal-sector workers.

Dantsoho made the proposals on Monday in Sokoto at the opening of the 15th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development meeting.

He said federal and state governments were working on measures to strengthen mortgage and land systems and improve access to housing.

The commissioner advocated reducing mortgage interest rates from double digits and extending repayment periods from 25 to 35 years to make instalments more affordable.

These were proposals presented at the meeting, rather than announced changes to mortgage terms. The account did not identify the loan products to which the suggested extension would apply.

Dantsoho said housing finance should reach beyond employees in the formal public and private sectors to include people whose earnings do not follow a monthly salary cycle.

He urged financial institutions, including the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), to provide adequate funding and flexible repayment arrangements. Farmers, for example, could make repayments after harvest.

For such borrowers, the central issue is whether mortgage assessment and repayment schedules can accommodate irregular income without making loans unaffordable.

The commissioner also called on states to digitise land administration to improve efficiency and transparency.

He cited a national housing deficit exceeding 14.5 million units and said about 50.6 million people lived in unsafe housing. However, he did not identify the sources, reference years or methods behind those estimates.

Council to Review Proposals and Previous Commitments

The Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Mukhtar Umar, said the meeting would examine challenges and develop practical recommendations for housing delivery.

Technical officers and directors would first review memoranda through thematic working groups. Permanent secretaries would then refine and harmonise their recommendations before ministers and state commissioners considered them for policy direction.

Umar said the final council session would also review implementation of decisions from the 14th meeting in Ilorin, Kwara State, to assess progress and identify outstanding issues.

The meeting’s theme is “Strengthening Mortgage, Land and Institutional Systems for Accelerated and Inclusive Housing Delivery”, with participants drawn from the 36 states, including land administrators and private developers.

Sokoto Outlines Land Reforms

The Permanent Secretary of Sokoto’s Ministry of Lands, Housing, Survey and Town Planning, Alhaji Moyi Tambuwal, said the state was digitising land records, working to shorten processing times for Certificates of Occupancy and providing land for the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Housing Programme.

He described these interventions as ongoing efforts to make land administration more responsive.

Tambuwal said affordable housing required more than construction, pointing to accessible finance, effective institutions and coordination among governments and private developers.

“Access to affordable mortgage finance remains critical to expanding home ownership for civil servants, traders, farmers, young professionals and the growing youth population,” he said.

He urged technical officials to challenge existing assumptions, identify institutional gaps and develop realistic solutions.

The account did not provide funding commitments, implementation deadlines or measurable targets for the proposed reforms.

Tambuwal said the council’s success should be judged by whether its resolutions ease access to land, expand housing finance and increase the supply of decent, affordable homes.

Atlantic Reports: Voices. People. Facts.