• Minister vows sanctions for negligence
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Rabe Darma, has assured Nigerians that no critical records or customer data were lost in the fire incident that affected a section of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria’s (FMBN’s) headquarters in Abuja last weekend.
The minister spoke yesterday during an inspection of the affected section of the bank’s headquarters, where he received briefing from its management and technical personnel on the incident, the extent of damage and measures taken to ensure continuity of operations.
He noted that the fire was contained within a section of the second floor of the building and disclosed that preliminary findings suggest it was most likely caused by an electrical fault, although investigations by relevant experts were still ongoing.
The minister, however, emphasised that anyone found to have been negligent in the discharge of their duties, following the conclusion of ongoing investigations, would be held accountable.
He commended FMBN’s successful digital transformation, noting that the bank’s cloud-based data backup system had safeguarded critical records and ensured uninterrupted access to customer information and operational documents despite the incident.
Darma further reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to expanding access to affordable housing across the country, noting that ongoing reforms at FMBN would strengthen mortgage delivery and support the achievement of the current administration’s housing objectives.
”I assure Nigerians that the 100,000 housing units Mr. President promised in four years will come to pass, and we will tell every single person exactly where those housing units are,” he stated.
He also disclosed that the federal government had directed FMBN to strengthen its internal processes and institutional framework to enhance mortgage delivery and improve operational efficiency.
”As part of the policy reformulation of the bank, we have asked FMBN to look into its internal arrangements and improve mortgage access to about 2,000 mortgages in a year,” he stated.
FMBN, he said, remains fully operational and continues to provide uninterrupted services to contributors, mortgage customers and other stakeholders.
Earlier, the bank assured customers, stakeholders and the general public that its operations remain unaffected following the fire incident that occurred at its Head Office in Abuja on Saturday night.
In a statement, the bank disclosed that the fire, which broke out on the second floor of the headquarters building was successfully contained before it could spread to other parts of the facility.
Although the incident damaged office furniture, equipment and appliances in the affected section of the building, the FMBN stated that critical official documents remained secure because they had been electronically backed up and stored on cloud-based systems.
“The fire was successfully contained and prevented from spreading to other parts of the building. Whilst there has been some damage to office furniture, equipment and appliances in the affected areas, we are grateful to report that official documents that were affected are securely backed up electronically, with cloud storage, thanks to technology!” the bank said.
The mortgage institution noted that investigations were ongoing to determine the cause of the fire, adding that a comprehensive evaluation of the incident was also underway.
It, however, reassured customers that the development had not compromised its operations, stressing that business continuity measures had already been activated to minimise any disruption to service delivery.
The bank also expressed appreciation to the Federal Fire Service, the Nigeria Police Force, members of staff and other stakeholders whose prompt intervention and cooperation helped to bring the situation under control.