The Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has reported an operational surplus of ₦13 billion ($8.5 million) for the first half of 2025, marking its strongest performance in decades and signalling a major turnaround in the state-owned lender’s fortunes.
FMBN Managing Director and Chief Executive, Shehu Osidi disclosed the figures during the bank’s 2025 management retreat in Niger State, themed “Process Re-Engineering for Optimal Performance.”
He noted that the surplus builds on a historic ₦4.9 billion half-year profit in 2024 — the first in the bank’s history — which closed the year at ₦11.9 billion.
“Though these figures may be largely eroded eventually by provisioning, the trajectory shows that we are on the right track to chart a new course for FMBN,” Osidi said.
The bank has also cleared a four-year backlog of audited accounts from 2018 to 2021, concluded its 2022 audit, and begun work on year 2023 backlogs, aiming to be fully up-to-date by year-end.
Osidi described the development as a “significant milestone” for long-term financial sustainability and transparency.
“Under the National Housing Fund (NHF) operations, our annual collections also grew by N3b in 2024 resulting in total collection of N103b, compared to the N100b the Bank recorded in 2023. By half-year 2025, we have collected N73.9 against N49.6b collected in the corresponding period for 2024.
That is about 76% of the total NHF collection in 2024,” he added.
The bank’s technology overhaul has also progressed, with the long-awaited Core Banking Application fully deployed and now in a maintenance phase set to end this month.
On the credit front, seven task teams recovered ₦18.9 billion in bad loans by mid-2025, up from ₦10.9 billion at the close of 2024.
Osidi credited the gains to the “capacity and commitment” of staff, adding that the reforms place FMBN on a stronger footing to deliver on its housing finance mandate for Nigerians.
The Unit Head of Strategy Development and Implementation at FMBN, Ahmed Ka’oje, emphasized the importance of the retreat and underscored the necessity for collaboration and innovation.
He highlighted that these elements are essential for aligning strategies with the evolving needs of customers and the market.
“In today’s fast-paced environment, merely improving existing processes is not just enough.
We need to fundamentally rethink and redesign them to drive efficiency, reduce costs, and most importantly, enhance our customers’ experience,” he said.
Victoria Ibanga