Housing: Civil Servants Petition Presidency over Alleged N10bn Fraud
From Damilola Oyedele in Abuja THISDAY | Feb.22.2010

The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has alleged the diversion of N10b meant for disbursement as housing loans for civil servants, and has petitioned Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate the matter.

The funds were said to have been released since March 2009 to the National Housing Fund (NHF), but has allegedly been lodged in one of the commercial banks by highly placed government officials who were supposed to manage its disbursement to the civil servants.

President of the Association, Comrade Olakunle Olaitan, while speaking with news men in Abuja over the weekend said it is lamentable that adequate seriousness is not attached to proving housing for Nigerian civil servants.
He called on the Federal Government to get to the root of the matter and not allow the money to disappear into thin air as has been the case in the past.

In a copy of the petition, which was made available to THISDAY, ASCSN threatened industrial action if the matter is not resolved in the next couple of weeks.

The petition also read: “It is our fervent desire that this N10 billion will not be allowed to enter into ‘voice mail’ where it will not be retrieved like other several billions of naira that have not been accounted for by some public institutions and prominent politicians.”

In a circular No.8/vii/305 of 26th March 2009, issued through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Federal Government released N10 billion to enable federal civil servants acquire their own landed property as a palliative measures to cushion the adverse effects of global economic recession.

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