The Senate is working on a bill that will check the incessant increase in house rents in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria, the Senate Committee Chairman on Federal Capital Territory, Senator Dino Melaye, has said.
He stated that the ‘Rent Edit’ bill would protect tenants and landlords even as he promised that lawmakers would ensure the passage of the bill before the end of the 8th Senate.
Melaye disclosed this in a statement issued by the Director of Information at the housing arm of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Mrs Eno Olotu, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the senator, who spoke at the 2nd Abuja Housing and Investment Expo, also stated that corruption had hindered development and growth in the housing sector
Melaye urged stakeholders to have a change of heart by putting the interest of the people first.
He said, “Not everybody can own a house. The Rent Edit Bill will help guide and curb excessive rents in the Federal Capital Territory and the nation at large.”
In his keynote address, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, noted that the theme of this year’s event, ‘Housing and Investment for Economic Recovery’, was apt considering the fact that the provision of affordable housing, investments and job creation would ensure economic recovery.
Fashola said his ministry was willing to collaborate with private sector players in order to enable citizens purchase affordable homes based on their incomes.
In his remarks, the President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Tony Ejinkeonye, urged stakeholders to take advantage of the programme as well as interact with exhibitors in order to give the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Federal Government the required attention in the housing sector.
