Abia officials accuse Otti’s govt of misappropriating billions of workers’ National Housing Funds
Abia workers have accused the state government of deducting 2.5 per cent from their monthly salaries for the National Housing Fund (NHF) without remitting the monies to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN).
A level 8 government employee who spoke on condition of anonymity said the Accountant General, Mrs Njum-Uma Onyemenam, has been making these deductions monthly from their basic salaries.
According to him, the deductions have been occurring over 19 months, from May 2023 to December 2024, affecting all civil servants.
“Every month, the accountant general’s office, which manages the Central Payrolling System (CPS), deducts this money without sending it to the bank,” the civil servant lamented.
He added, “The bank has written to the accountant general multiple times regarding the non-remittance, but she remains unresponsive.”
A staff member at FMBN who requested anonymity due to a lack of authorisation to comment confirmed the validity of the claims.
Sharing photocopies of some letters sent to the Abia State Government via the accountant general’s office, the staff member stated: “The government has neither replied to these letters nor complied with our requests for remittance.”
According to this source, it is the first time since the NHF’s introduction in 1992 that the Abia State Government has failed to remit the 2.5 per cent monthly deduction to the bank.
“Failing to remit the funds even once is a violation of the National Housing Fund Act,” he noted.
While he did not disclose the exact sum involved, he indicated that the total amount due runs into billions of naira.
Several local government, ministry and agency staff members echoed concerns about the situation, claiming that Governor Otti’s actions could leave them homeless after retirement.
“Some of us are coming to work without receiving salaries. The new minimum wage of N70,000 only exists on paper, and now there’s this issue of non-remittance of our NHF contributions.
“It seems Governor Otti wants to make Abia civil servants homeless after retirement. This is both shameful and irresponsible,” commented one worker from Umuahia North Local Government.
“We discovered the non-remittance of our NHF contributions through FMBN sometime in 2023. All our attempts to persuade the government to act have fallen on deaf ears,” one staff member from the Ministry of Information revealed.
He added, “The Accountant General is unapproachable and does not respond to enquiries. As things stand, we are left in the dark regarding the reasons for the non-remittance or when the funds will be sent.”
The National Housing Fund (NHF) was established in Nigeria in 1992 to reduce the housing deficit by encouraging workers to save for home ownership. All employed Nigerians must contribute 2.5 per cent of their basic salary to the fund, with employers responsible for the deduction and transfer to the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) within one month. The NHF provides long-term financial support to help Nigerians achieve home ownership.
Efforts to contact the accountant general were unsuccessful as she did not respond to our calls.
