Local Contractors Protest Over Non-Payment Of Contracts By The Minister Of Finance

Local contractors staged a protest at the ministry of finance, Abuja over the non-payment of contracts executed by them for various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Nigerian government.

According to the  protesters, over 5000 of them across the country were passing through hardships and hunger while some of them had passed on due to the delay in payment.

According to the spokesperson for the local contractors Mr Dandy Rowland, the presidency had approved and released N18 billion to settle the debt. The message was delivered by the special adviser to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Mrs ZainabAhmed on July 8, 2020 and was declared that it would be paid within 14days of the announcement. The contracts executed by the contractors were verified by the Presidential Initiative on Continued Audit (PICA) and payments were recommended to the contactors in batches from 10million downwards.

He laments the finance minister keeps talking of verification every now and then in order to manipulate the payment and it  was also said the funds spent on verification is almost higher than the amount owed local contactors put together.

The local contractors appealed to President Buhari to see to their situation and not let them all die of hunger.