Local contractors protest non-payment of N18bn contract debt

Local contractors on Monday embarked on a protest at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to protest against the non-payment of their N18 billion contract sum by the ministry.

The Publicity Secretary of the Local Contractors of Nigeria, Dandy Rowland, while speaking to journalists, said the affected firms executed contracts for various ministries, departments and agencies, but their pay had been delayed by the finance ministry.

The protesters displayed placards at the ministry demanding the finance minister to settle their claims, alleging that the ministry had kept promising to clear the debts but had repeatedly failed to do so.

“They once told us that N18bn has been released to pay us and announced to the world on July 8 that the finance ministry would pay local contractors within seven to 14 days from the date of the announcement but nothing has been done,” Rowland said.

Read also: ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE: Nigerian govt owing contractors N336bn —Fashola

Reacting, the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Yunusa Abdullahi, said government met with the protesting contractors and explained to them that the verification of their claims was currently ongoing.

He said, “The ministry eventually met with them and explained to them that the verification process takes time.

“There are a lot of documents that we have to verify in order to know those who really did one or more of the contracts.”

Abdullahi further stated that the ministry assured the protesters that it would pay them once the verification exercise was completed, adding that the government would not hesitate to settle duly verified claims.

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