The Federal Government has said many federal workers are unable to access its housing loan schemes because they have mortgaged their salaries through multiple loans from commercial lending agencies.

The Executive Secretary of the Federal Government Staff Housing Loans Board, Hajiya Ahmed, explained that the heavy loan deductions from workers’ salaries make them ineligible for housing loans.

She disclosed this at the Permanent Secretaries’ Quarterly Forum with Union Leaders, organised by the Service Welfare Office, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, recently.

“Let me tell you why workers may have difficulty accessing these loans. The majority of them have already mortgaged their salary by taking a series of loans from these agencies that operate “sharp loans”.

So, at the end of the day, there is no way you can propel them to pay the housing loan. ‘This is very sad,’ she said.

Ahmed said the situation was worrisome because the board had increased its loan ceiling to N20m for senior workers to benefit, adding that the government had also created a special scheme for officers on Grade Levels 8 to 14.

She explained that the board was partnering with mortgage institutions and private developers to make housing more affordable for civil servants.

Declaring the forum open, the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare Office, in the office of the HCSF, Patience Onyekunle, said the engagement was to strengthen dialogue between the government and unions on issues of staff welfare, industrial harmony, and productivity.

According to her, the government has introduced several initiatives under the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan for 2021 to 2025.

The initiatives included group life assurance for federal workers and the President’s N750 bn pension bond bill, which was presented to the National Assembly.

“As you are aware, the Service Welfare Office is charged with promoting staff welfare through sound policies and programmes. Today’s meeting is an opportunity to focus discussions squarely on welfare-related issues with the understanding that sustained dialogue and continuous engagement will allow us to address the concerns progressively.

“This forum is one of the several avenues through which the Federal Government continues to engage union leaders,” she said.

Onyekunle used the forum to list other welfare initiatives by the government, including the resuscitation of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund and the provision of free medical services at the office of the HCSF complex.

Others are the review of the recognition and reward policy, as well as an open-door engagement policy with labour unions.

On his part, the Deputy General Manager of NSITF, Usman Tumsah, stated that the Trust Fund was simplifying its claims process and digitising applications to ensure timely compensation for workplace accidents and deaths.

“It is just unfortunate that most of the organisations have not duly keyed into the scheme and submitted the necessary documentation on behalf of their employees so that they are captured under the scheme. But we are, at the moment, doing high-level sensitisation of all MDAs to the benefits of keying into the scheme and the benefits derivable for the employees from the scheme.”

He assured that federal civil servants are automatically covered under the employee compensation scheme, while efforts are ongoing to sensitise MDAs to compliance.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation Union, Chika Ukachukwu, commended the government’s efforts but urged further improvements in the National Health Insurance Authority scheme.

She decried delays in accessing medical care under NHIA, calling for the removal of bottlenecks that discourage workers from seeking treatment.

“I have been a beneficiary of NHIS, now NHIA, since 2012, and I know that the hospitals are not too strict in assessing it. It’s very discouraging. Sometimes, when you think of the rigours and the procedures you have to go through to access medication and a checkup, you are already discouraged. But I think they can do better by reducing some of these bottlenecks,” she said.