"Needless to say, the Minister confirmed that the Data has no verifiable basis," Mr Fashola said.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the claim that there is a 17 million housing deficit in Nigeria is false and not backed by evidence.
Mr Fashola said he investigated the claim and found it was baseless because nobody knew where it came from, even as many Nigerians believed it.
A statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES from the minister's special adviser on communications, Hakeem Bello, said Mr Fashola disclosed this in his remarks at the Shelter Afrique 2023 42nd AGM's roundtable session of African ministers at the congress hall of Transcorp Hilton on Tuesday, 9 May.
The minister explained that using data for planning and decision-making by those with the requisite skills, capacity, and rigour can lead to predictable, orderly and measurable results but can be dangerous in the hands of the unskilled.
Regarding the supposed 17 million housing deficit, the minister said he went the extra mile to verify that claim.
"Of course, I took the view that as Housing Minister, my success depended on working with credible data. So I went in search of the data," he began.
"Nobody knew where it came from, but they all loved it and were ready to assert it. Indeed, I think they might have thought that something was wrong with me about finding out the truth.
"Happily, the source of the "data" of a housing deficit of 17 million did not prove eternally elusive. I eventually found where it came from."
Mr Fashola added that the claim was contained in the preface to the 2012 National Housing Policy signed by the minister then in charge of the Ministry of Housing three years before he took office.
"I put a telephone call through to the Minister, who admitted to the preface but said it was prepared by aides, and the pressure of work did not allow sufficient vetting," he said.
"Needless to say, the Minister confirmed that the data has no verifiable basis. Therefore, I say to those who still choose to live by it, I wish them well on a journey to the unknown from an unknown destination.
"The point I am making here, which needs to be repeated, is that by logical and accountable use of data, if there were a need of 17 million and 1 unit was provided, one would expect that the need would reduce by 1 (one)."
Appeal
He appealed to the "right-thinking and well-meaning people" to disown the "baseless data" while awaiting the results of the National Housing and Population Census 2023.
"And to the question of what we know, I say that the last time I checked with our National Bureau of Statistics (admittedly a few years ago), there was a reliable household survey of about 35 million households in Nigeria; a household representing one family unit.
"If we set that nebulous figure of 17 million housing deficit against the verifiable household data of 35 million Households, it would suggest that almost half of the population is in deficit of housing," he said.
Mr Fashola also recalled that as Lagos State Governor, between 2012 and 2015, his administration delivered 200 units of houses to members of the public every month over three years.
"At the same time, other governors launched and successfully executed housing projects across most of our 36 states, and so did members of the private sector," he said.
It seemed that nobody was ready to take account of the delivery of even 1 (one) unit of housing, he added.
Meanwhile, Mr Fashola conceded that there is a housing deficit in Nigeria and has offered how to approach it.
"My view is again to use what is proven, which is that globally, more people are moving towards cities in the last 50 years than at any time before in our human existence, in a trend now defined as rapid urbanization.
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"We also know from economic principles that when there is an increased demand for a service, commodity or product without corresponding supply, there will be shortages and price increases. This is also verifiable.
"Using these verifiable principles, I submit that the housing deficit in Nigeria and most parts of the continent and the world is more pronounced in urban centres than in rural areas," he said.
Mr Fashola said while awaiting reliable census data, his approach has been concentrating on housing supply and construction activities in the urban centres of states, even as he is mindful of empty houses in the same urban centres.
"I know that many of those struggling for accommodation in the cities have left one form of shelter unused or underutilised in our rural areas. I also know that housing provision must look seriously at the rental side while trying to increase ownership.
"I know that a lot more needs to be done to free up any obstacles that prevent people from renting or acquiring many empty houses that we see in our urban centres," he said.
