Proposed sale of 3,300 houses: KDSG explains rationale for decision

The Kaduna State Government said it decided to sell 3,300 houses occupied by civil servants because occupants were not paying rent as appropriate.

Hassan Usman, Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, said the government got only a N1m as annual rent from records of the previous administration.

The commissioner made the clarification in Kaduna on Tuesday at the annual ministerial press briefing organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The government plan had come under heavy criticism with occupants of the houses and labour unions initially saying they were not given the option to buy the houses.

Usman said the record showed that most civil servants paid as low as N690 per annum as rent for the houses.

The commissioner said that what the state was spending on maintenance of the houses was not commensurate with what the government was getting.

“When we came on board, we inherited 3,300 houses and we only got N1m as rent from these houses.

“It was based on this premise that we decided to sell them to interested buyers and at that we gave those living in these houses the opportunity of first bid.

“Apart from that, even those who cannot buy these houses, we have invited mortgage banks to help them get the houses”.

Usman said that the bidding for the houses would be transparent to allow citizens of the state acquire these houses.

The commissioner promised to ensure that proceeds from the sales were judiciously used to provide needed infrastructure in the state.

He also said that the government had invited 60 investors to develop and build houses that would take care of the growing housing demand in the state.

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