Members of the FCT Indigenous Contractor’s Association are set for a showdown with the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCT) over unpaid debts running into billions of naira for contracts executed.
They accused the Permanent Secretary Olusade Adesola of selectively paying friends and cronies at the deterrent of other contractors.
They claimed many of them have died while banks were on their necks over their inability to service the loans they took to execute the jobs.
According to a contractor who did not want his name in print, the permanent secretary since his redeployment from the Ministry of Niger Delta on August 8 has been playing god with the lives of contractors.
“We have artisans here that we have not paid since January and this is having a toll on them and their families, they have been threatening to mobilise themselves for a protest to press home their demands. With things the way it is now nobody is sure to get money to pay for our children’s school fees.”
He added that “all of us are determined to have a showdown with the FCT administration over the unpaid debts but we are being held down by the leadership who are insisting that we give them time to have a meeting with the minister and the permanent secretary. We have given them one week to sort it out or we take to the streets. Some of us are of the opinion that they are benefiting or being paid behind our backs.