Lagos State Government has said that no fewer than 145 subscribers have been refunded their full deposit for various categories of housing units in Egan-Igando Mixed Housing Estate following their lack of further interest in the housing scheme.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Abdulhafis Gbolahan Toriola, disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen on the allocation of the newly commissioned 270 home units (Cluster 1) of the Egan Housing Scheme.

He said that the delivery of the housing estate was plagued by administrative issues and large-scale vandalisation of the estate by hoodlums.

Toriola, while lauding the patience and understanding of the early subscribers that had waited for the estate to be completed, said: “The state had since refunded 145 former subscribers who applied for repayment with genuine evidence of payment since the administration of former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode till date.”

He, however, appealed to subscribers who had applied for refund but not yet paid to come to the Ministry of Housing with all necessary original documents as well as subscribers with claims of loss of original receipts or documents to provide police report and declaration of Loss of Documents or Receipts.

The permanent secretary said that those with no evidence of payments or with questionable documentations were still being investigated.

He further said that over 70 per cent of the early subscribers did not make payment beyond the initial 10 per cent deposits made to Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC).

Toriola, who acknowledged that there was a change of policy from LBIC “mortgage scheme” to the “outright purchase” at the point of hand over of the scheme to the ministry in 2017 by Ambode, said that this policy alteration was communicated to all subscribers through various platforms.

He then assured all genuine subscribers that the delivery of the Egan Housing Scheme is still an ongoing process, noting that there are still 576 homes of various categories to be completed before the end of first quarter of 2025.

Toriola reiterated that the state government is committed towards continuous provision of homes to the citizens of the state in all the administrative divisions of the state.