There are strong indications that the Federal Government has paid some of the outstanding debt owed contractors on various infrastructure and other projects located across the geopolitical zones in the country.
A Note circulating early Thursday indicated the Federal Ministry of Finance had paid N152 billion to the contractors for verified contracts.
The Note, which did not have any official signatory, reads: “This is to confirm that FMF has paid N152B to contractors for verified contracts. The process of payment for contracts goes through various verification processes in line with extant laws and regulations, to protect taxpayers money and ensure accountability and transparency.
“While the Ministry acknowledges the financial strain the delay in payment has caused contractors, we also plead for continuous dialogue and engagement for effective resolution of all conflicts.
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“FMF assures all contractors of our continuous support and openness to constructive dialogue and urge all contractors to respect the process and the personnel of the FMF, who have had to endure different levels of intimidation and harassment.
“We will continue to process all payment requests in line with due process in a timely and consistent manner”, it added.
It would be recalled that over the past three months, the contractors had been protecting the non-payment of their outstanding contract sums and on two occasions last December barricaded the entrance gate of the Ministry, thereby totally disrupting work.
Also, on Monday this week the protesting contractors blocked the premises, preventing the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, and hundreds of civil servants from entering the complex.
The aggrieved contractors, under the banner of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), barricaded the main gate in protest over unpaid debt owed by the Federal Government.
Specifically, they accused the government of failing to settle payments for completed projects and lamented that the prolonged delay had pushed scores of their members into financial distress.
The President of the association, Jackson Nwosu, in his address during the protest said the latest protest of the contractors action was triggered by the members’ tightening cash flow conditions, rising loan defaults, and the seizure of assets belonging to them by creditors who loaned them to execute the government’s projects.
He said: “The government has failed to honour the agreement to pay contractors whose project details had been submitted and verified. Payments finalised before the closure of the payment portal at the end of December never reflected in our accounts.”
Nwosu debunked claims by government officials in the ministry that about 80% of the contractors’ outstanding debts had been settled, insisting that payments made so far to them was not more than 30% to 40% of their verified claims.
