By Progress Godfrey
ABUJA — Indigenous contractors under the umbrella of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), on Monday, blocked the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, protesting Federal Government’s failure to honour agreements to pay over ₦4 trillion owed for completed projects.
The protesters, who had protested at the ministry for days in December last year, accused the government of reneging on multiple payment commitments despite repeated assurances.
Speaking at the protest, AICAN President, Mr Jackson Nwosu, said the renewed protest was triggered by the continued accumulation of debt, worsening case flow pressures, rising bank defaults, and asset seizures suffered by contractors who borrowed to fund government projects.
Nwosu said the government failed to honour the agreement to pay contractors whose project details had been submitted and verified, adding that payments finalised before the closure of the payment portal at the end of December never reflected in contractors’ accounts.
“We are here because they’ve reneged on all agreements. We had an agreement with them that they would pay most of our contractors. We’ve given them what they asked for. To date, they’ve not paid.
He dismissed claims that 80 percent of the debts had been settled, saying at best only 30–40 percent of payments had been made, with warrants stopping in May 2025. According to him, contractors have continued to execute projects without corresponding payments, pushing the total liability beyond ₦4 trillion.
Tension briefly flared during the protest when security aides fired a shot into the air as the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite attempted to gain access to the ministry complex, prompting panic among protesters.
Reacting to the gunshot, AICAN Vice President, Mr Fredrick Agada, accused authorities of intimidating contractors instead of addressing their demands, insisting that the association had exhausted all official channels before returning to the streets.
“This is a peaceful protest. We are harmless. We do not have anything with us. We are just sitting down peacefully, demanding for our money, our payment,” Agada said.
The Secretary-General of AICAN, Mr Babatunde Oyeniyi, said the association had formally engaged the Ministry of Finance, the National Assembly, and other relevant agencies since June 2025 without result, warning that the continued neglect of indigenous contractors was damaging the domestic economy.
The association warned that the protest would continue until all verified contracts were paid, stressing that indigenous contractors should not be treated differently from foreign firms whose payments, they said, are processed without delay.
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