Contractors under the umbrella of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria on Tuesday staged a fresh protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja over the non payment of more than N500bn allegedly owed for completed government projects.
The protesters blocked both main entrances of the ministry, disrupting official activities as they demanded immediate payment of outstanding liabilities.
Speaking at the protest ground, the National Secretary of the association, Babatunde Seun Oyeniyi, accused the Federal Government of repeatedly shifting its position and failing to honour several commitments made after previous engagements.
According to him, members of the association are owed over N500bn for projects that have already been executed and in many cases commissioned by the government.
Oyeniyi said the contractors had earlier suspended protests following the intervention of the National Assembly and assurances from the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, that payment would be effected.
He said, “After the National Assembly intervened, they told us they would sit the minister down over this matter and we immediately stopped the protest. But since then we have received no concrete response.”
He added that repeated follow up meetings with the finance ministry had yielded no result, noting that contractors had visited the ministry more than six times without any payment being released.
According to him, during their last engagement with the minister, they were informed that N150bn was available for partial payment, but the funds were yet to be disbursed.
He said that although payment warrants had been sighted by the contractors, no actual cash had been released, adding that officials were allegedly attempting to push the liabilities into the 2026 fiscal year.
“The problem is that they want to put us into a backlog and shift us to 2026. They will turn us into debt and we do not want that. We will not leave here until we are paid,” Oyeniyi said.
The protesters also claimed that the minister had referred them back to the National Assembly which had earlier mediated in the matter.
Placards carried by the demonstrators bore inscriptions such as Banks no longer have confidence in sponsoring government projects, You are killing small businesses pay what you owe, No payment to contractor no peace, and Contractors deserve payment not fake promises.
Some others chanted solidarity songs calling on President Bola Tinubu and the Minister of Finance to intervene urgently.
Tension over unpaid contracts has intensified in recent months. In November, contractors stormed the National Assembly Complex over similar grievances, forcing the House of Representatives to suspend plenary for one week.
As of the time of filing this report, the Ministry of Finance had yet to issue an official statement on the protest, while its officials declined comments.
