Uche Usim, Abuja
Contractors in Nigeria have cried out over nonpayment for various projects executed for federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) between three to 12 years.
The angry contractors took their protest to the headquarters of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning on Monday, lamenting that they were yet to get the N18 billion widely publicized by the Finance Minister as the money approved for their payment.
They claim they have been sidelined from all financial obligations of the Ministry.
According to them, billions of naira have been approved and released by the Presidency to settle the liabilities, but alleged that the Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed had refused to do the needful.
The Publicity Secretary of the Local Contractors of Nigeria, Mr Dandy Rowland, stated that over 5,000 local contractors across the nation were passing through severe life-threatening situations, adding that some of them have died as a result of untold hardship.
He added that “the Minister of Finance through her Special Adviser Media told us that N18 billion has been released to settle our entitlements but turned out to be a hoax.
“He announced to the whole world on 8th July 2020 that the Finance Ministry would pay local Contractors between seven to 14 days from the date of the announcement.
“This empty deceptive and unfulfilled promise heightened our pressure from our creditors after the expiration of the stipulated period yet the game continued.”
He alleged that the fund being spent on the verification exercises is almost higher than the amount owed the local contractors put together.