The Federal Government has commenced a fresh drive to recover abandoned housing estates across the country, with plans to rehabilitate, upgrade and complete viable projects built with public funds.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Engr. Muttaqa Rabe Darma, disclosed this on Wednesday while inspecting the abandoned National Housing Programme (NHP) estate in the Kubwa-Karsana District of the Federal Capital Territory.
Darma said the inspection was part of a nationwide assessment of abandoned Federal Government housing projects aimed at identifying viable estates that could be revived and put to productive use.
He expressed concern over the continued abandonment of government housing projects, stressing that public assets should be completed and made available to Nigerians rather than allowed to deteriorate.
“We cannot continue to allow housing projects that were started with public funds to remain abandoned. These are assets belonging to Nigerians, and our responsibility is to ensure that they are completed, functional and occupied by the people who need them,” he said.
The minister explained that the assessment was being conducted under the Renewed Hope Housing Agenda to determine the status of abandoned projects, their level of completion and the interventions required to restore them.
According to him, the exercise is part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to expand access to affordable housing and accelerate the delivery of housing units across the country.
“Our target is clear. Where projects are viable, we will upgrade them, complete them and ensure that Nigerians can benefit from them. We are determined to deliver more homes and reduce the housing deficit before the end of 2026,” Darma said.
He said the rehabilitation and completion of abandoned estates would complement the construction of new housing projects, enabling the government to maximise existing investments and deliver housing more efficiently.
Darma added that recovering abandoned projects would help prevent the waste of public funds already committed to them while increasing the number of completed housing units available to Nigerians.
He further said the Federal Government would prioritise the improvement of existing housing infrastructure and ensure that viable estates were brought back into use.
The minister assured that completed housing units would be allocated transparently to deserving Nigerians in line with the objectives of the Renewed Hope Housing Agenda.
The inspection of the Kubwa-Karsana estate formed part of the ministry’s broader assessment of Federal Government housing assets and abandoned projects, with the aim of developing appropriate strategies for their rehabilitation, completion and eventual allocation.
The abandonment of government-funded projects, including housing estates, has remained a recurring concern in the country, with calls for practical measures to revive such investments and put them to use.
The ministry’s nationwide assessment is therefore expected to provide a basis for determining which abandoned housing projects can be rehabilitated and completed, while ensuring that viable public assets are not left to deteriorate.