Nigeria’s Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Muttaqa Darma, has assured Nigerians that no critical records or customer data were lost after a fire damaged part of the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) headquarters in Abuja.
Darma also reassured customers that the bank remained fully operational despite the incident.
The Minister gave the assurance during an inspection of the affected section of the bank’s headquarters, where FMBN management and technical personnel briefed him on the incident, extent of damage and measures taken to sustain operations.
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He said the fire, which occurred on Saturday, August 1, was contained within part of the building’s second floor.
Darma further explained that preliminary findings indicated that an electrical fault was the most likely cause of the incident, although investigations by relevant authorities were ongoing.
The Minister said anyone found to have acted negligently would be held accountable after the conclusion of investigations.
Darma credited the bank’s digital transformation efforts for preventing the loss of critical information, noting that its cloud-based backup system protected customer records and operational documents despite the fire.
“I’m convinced by the management that nothing is really lost, except the physical structure of the building. I came to the computer room and they showed me the records saved on the cloud,” the Minister said.
He said the bank had fully digitised its operations, adding that only physical paperwork was destroyed by the fire.
“They have actually digitised their entire system, and the fire consumed only the paperwork that was there. I assure Nigerians that they should continue to patronise the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria,” Darma said.
The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria is a government-owned financial institution responsible for supporting housing finance and expanding access to mortgage lending across Nigeria.
Darma reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to increasing access to affordable housing through reforms aimed at strengthening mortgage delivery.
“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.
The Minister said the government had directed FMBN to improve its internal processes and institutional framework as part of wider policy reforms designed to increase operational efficiency and expand mortgage access.
“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,” Darma added.
FMBN said it continued to provide uninterrupted services to contributors, mortgage customers and other stakeholders while working with relevant authorities investigating the cause of the fire.
