In an attempt to increase housing finance in the nation, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) wants to increase its capital base to N750 billion. Additionally, the FMBN reported a net operating surplus of N19.5 billion for the fiscal year 2025, which is an increase of almost 68.4% from the previous year. Shehu Osidi, the managing director and CEO of FMBN, revealed this to reporters on Wednesday at a ceremony commemorating his two years in office.
Osidi pointed out that the bank now has roughly N2.56 billion in paid-up capital, which he said is insufficient to effectively address Nigeria's housing shortage. The managing director acknowledged that “the bank remained grossly undercapitalized, with paid-up capital standing at approximately N2.56 billion.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has authorized continued engagements with the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), and the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), he disclosed.
Even while Osidi acknowledged that the process has been slow, he was optimistic that it would eventually produce revolutionary outcomes for the bank and the larger housing industry. He also revealed that the full implementation of the bank's Core Banking Application (CBA), a project that had languished for years prior to the current administration taking over, was one of the major milestones reached in 2025.
He claims that the new system has improved turnaround time, data integrity, transparency, and transaction processing. In order to enhance the customer experience and establish FMBN as a more technologically advanced and customer-focused organization, he continued, the bank also implemented an Electronic Visitor Management System.
The N750 billion recapitalization objective is an increase over the N500 billion the bank had previously set in 2025. Osidi had voiced hope in February of last year that the N500 billion recapitalization plan would be implemented by 2025, adding that management planned to collaborate extensively with stakeholders in accordance with the then FEC's directives to meet the minimum goal.
FMBN has made strides in operational improvements, including the effective launch of its Core Banking Application, even though the previous recapitalization objective has not yet been achieved.
