El-Rufai says Govt ‘ll provide mortgage opportunities 

Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said that every citizen of Kaduna State is entitled to a house but Government cannot provide for everyone. They would provide opportunity for people to borrow and buy a house. The Governor who made this known while presenting 24 Jeeps to High Court Judges, as part of efforts to enhance the welfare of judicial officers in the State, promised that more vehicles would be provided to other Judges.

 Governor El-Rufai further said that ‘’we already have this in place, we have an agreement with three banks and we already have N4 billion to lend to people.’’ 

According to him, ‘’the state government has plans to develop housing estate for senior Judges, as currently, judges are accommodated in government buildings scattered across the State.

  “We believe that if we develop housing estate where all the senior Judges will be in comfortable accommodation, with clubhouse and shopping facility, they will have a self-contained community and better security,’’ El Rufai said.

The Governor promised that very soon the developer will approach heads of courts to look at the design that is suitable.

El-Rufai added that Government is working on retirement and post-retirement housing scheme for judicial staff, adding that it is one of the issues that bother most civil servants as they approach retirement.

“We are working on a scheme to brief heads of courts while they develop houses for sale to senior Judges and provide mortgage facilities for them at single digits interest for them to acquire these houses and pay over a period of 15-20 years,’’ he said. The Governor also promised that the next beneficiaries of official cars will be Khadis of Sharia Court of Appeal and Judges of the Customary Court of Appeal, adding that both current and incoming Judges will benefit. 

The Governor reiterated his continuous support to the judiciary, urging them to remain the best as he would push for more judges to reduce the workload. On his part, the State’s Chief Judge, Mohammad Lawal Bello thanked the State Government for the gesture, saying that it was first of its kind.

“We thank you so much for all you have done and other things you are doing for us in the judiciary’’, he added.

Credit: Daily Trust