Local contractors under the aegis of Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (ICAON) on Wednesday stage a protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, demanding for payment for completed projects.
The aggrieved contractors blocked the main entrance to the ministry, forcing the convoy of the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to follow an alternative route to the office.
The staff and visitors were also unable to gain access to their offices.
The angry contractors carried placards and sang solidarity songs demanding the payment of projects completed since 2024.
They accused the federal government of being insensitive to their plight as a result of non payment of the jobs done.
Efforts by the permanent secretary of the ministry to address the contractors were rebuffed, as they insisted on hearing directly from the minister.
The contractors had in July staged a similar protest over the continuous delay in payment of contracts completed.
They blamed the situation on inefficiencies in the centralised payment system jointly operated by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) and the Finance Ministry.
The contractors lamented that the system has consistently failed to release funds on time, unlike previous arrangements where payments were processed directly by the ministry.
They called on the federal government to take urgent steps to pay so as to enable them
the loans they took from banks to execute the projects.
Local contractors protest in Abuja over non payment of completed projects
