Nineteen states of the federation including 11 from the North have responded to a request on land allocation for the federal government's mass housing project, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has said.

Presenting details of the housing programme to the National Assembly, the chairman, Technical Committee on Housing in the ministry, Architect Sani Gidado, said the ministry was "technically" ready for the implementation of the programme in the 36 states and the FCT in line with the Appropriation Act.

He noted that under the 2016 appropriation, the ministry allocated N35.6bn for the National Housing Programme, adding that extensive planning and widespread consultations had been concluded.

Gidado disclosed that the 11 northern states that responded to the request from the ministry include Jigawa, Kwara, Kogi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Adamawa, Yobe, Benue, Bauchi and Plateau.

Six states except Lagos have also responded from the South-west, Abia and Anambra from the South-east and Akwa Ibom from the South-south.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Affordable Housing Summit which opens today in Abuja, the minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said that the present budgetary allocation will not solve the housing deficiency.