Contractors under the aegis of the Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria have once again stormed the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja over unpaid entitlements.
The contractors on Wednesday placed a coffin with the photos of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Wale Edun at the entrance of the ministry as they continued to demand payment of projects executed running into N500bn.
When InsightLinks visited the ministry on Wednesday, tens of the contractors were sighted at the entrance as they mounted a tenth to block the gate.
The protest led to heavy gridlock at the entrance of the ministry while officials and visitors were denied entry into the building leading to complete shutdown of activities at the ministry.
Earlier on Tuesday, Secretary of the association, Babatunde Oyeniyi, had accused the federal government of deceit and failure to honour agreement after the national assembly’s intervention.
According to him, repeated follow-up meetings with the minister had produced no tangible progress. “They have not responded to our request,” he said. “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 added that the contractors were puzzled by continued delays even after the minister reportedly stated that a portion of the funds was available. “Even from the last conversation we had, we even told him, OK, for now, you said you have up to N150bn to pay all indigenous contractors. We don’t know why it is causing delays.”
The protesters vowed not to leave the ministry until their money is paid.
Advertisement
