LCCI praises Buhari for declining assent to NHF Bill

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has hailed President Muhammadu Buhari for not signing the National Housing Fund (NHF) Bill.

The chamber said the bill would have caused more problems for citizens.

LCCI Director-General Muda Yusuf gave the commendation in an interview with The Nationin Lagos.

President Buhari, had on April 2, declined assent to the National Housing Fund Bill alongside seven others passed by the National Assembly.


Yusuf said the bill would have increased cost of building materials thus widening the country’s infrastructural deficit, led to increase in cost of doing business and inflict hardship on workers.

He said what the government should do was to evolve a mechanism that would reduce the cost of building materials to enable more Nigerians become empowered to construct buildings.

“The government should be more concerned on how to bring down the cost of steel, cement and make land easily accessible and affordable, and also promote the use of local materials for construction,” he said.

He urged the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) to evolve more innovative alternative and sustainable building materials for housing development.

The LCCI chief said the use of local building materials would reduce the cost of construction, boost productivity in the building industry, and reduce environmental impact.

Yusuf urged the research institute to publicise and commercialise its prototypes for more acceptability by Nigerians and to bridge the nation’s housing deficits