No fewer than 200 applicants of a housing scheme in Ogun State who said their payment had been completed between 2021 and 2022 but awaiting the government’s allocations of the housing have rejected an increment of 300 per cent and refund.
The applicants had last week cried out over the late allocation of Prince Court Estate, Kobape, Abeokuta despite full payment into the Gateway Mortgage Bank account. The representative of the applicants, Adeyemi Aremu, faulted the process, urging the governor, Dapo Abiodun, to fast-track their allocation since the payment had been made years ago.
The state’s Commissioner for Housing, Jagunmolu Jamiu Omoniyi, denied any sharp practice but attributed the process to “galloping inflation,” which he said, pushed the new payment to N20 million.
He said: “To this end, those who are willing and able to meet up with the little adjustment will immediately get their allocations attended to and delivery structured within record time after the stakeholders’ meetings while those who cannot afford the adjustment will be free to request for instant refund of their deposits plus CBN’s prescribed interest rate.
But reacting, Aremu, in a statement, yesterday, said the applicants rejected the new development, saying: “We once again wish to set the records straight and let the Dapo Abiodun-led government in Ogun State and the Ministry of Housing be aware that we would vehemently reject their proposal to refund or increase the price of shelter in the Prince Court Estate after meeting our side of the bargain.
“It should be noted that the transaction in itself is a concluded deal, since about three years ago,” he said.
The applicants, therefore, wondered what could be the excuse three years later.
They, however, called on Nigerians, activists, the media and other stakeholders to come to their aid and save them from “this daylight robbery.”
“We also call on the Gateway Mortgage Bank to protect the interests of its clients and ensure we receive our houses as promised in no distant time,” they said.
