Indigenous Contractors Barricade Finance, Ministry, Protest Unpaid N500bn Debt

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

About three months after their last protest, hundreds of protesting contractors under the aegis of Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (ICAN), again besieged the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, Tuesday over the non-payment contract fees in excess of N500 billion for federal projects completed in 2024.

Led by the General Secretary of the Association, Babatunde Oyeniyi, the protesters who pitched their canopies at the central gate of the ministry, said the government had reneged on all promises it made during previous negotiations.

With placards of various inscriptions, one of which read ‘Don’t pay 2025 until you finish paying the 2024 budget that has been completed’, they surged towards the entrance of the ministry, thereby disrupting movements in and out of the ministry.

Oyeniyi, who spoke on behalf of the contractors, disclosed that they had approached the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, in September this year to find out what was delaying the payment of their money.

According to him, after long negotiations, the ministry signed an agreement with the association to pay the outstanding  N760 billion.

Oyeniyi said ICAN, which waited for months without any action from the ministry, decided to seek the intervention of the National Assembly.

“After the National Assembly intervened, they told us that they will sit the minister down over this matter. And we immediately stopped the protest” he said, adding that  despite multiple follow-up meetings with the minister, nothing positive happened.

“They have not responded to our request.

In fact, more than six times, we have come here. Last week, we were here throughout the night before the Minister of Finance came,” he said.

Oyeniyi noted that the contractors were meant to believe that a partial payment was imminent.

“Even from the last conversation we had, we even told him, okay, for now, you said you have up to N150 billion to pay all indigenous contractors. We don’t know why it is causing delays,” he said.

Noting that while some warrants may have been issued, the actual funds are yet to be disbursed.

“Specifically, when we collate, they are owing more than N500 billion for all indigenous contractors. We only see warrants, there is no cash backing.”

He expressed fears that the payments might be deferred to the next fiscal year.

“The problem is that they want to put us into a backlog. They want to shift us to 2026, that 2026 they are going to pay.

“They will turn us into debt, and we don’t want that. We won’t leave here until we are paid.

“The demand is that they should just pay us. We have finished our work. All the contractors that have finished their work, they should pay them.

“We are not demanding anything else. We have worked, we have been certified, people have even started using the projects, so they should pay us,” he said.

There was no official reaction from the ministry.

Protests by different groups have become recurring decimals at the ministry, ranging from retired military personnel, and  Nigerian students on Federal Government scholarships abroad whose allowances have been stopped.

About two weeks ago, frail looking NITEL-MTEL pensioners thronged the ministry in protest over unpaid 35 months pension arrears.