By Progress Godfrey, Abuja
Indigenous contractors under the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN) on Monday blocked the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja, protesting the Federal Government’s failure to honour agreements to pay over ₦4 trillion owed for completed projects.
The demonstration comes after a similar protest in December 2025, with contractors accusing the government of reneging on multiple payment commitments despite repeated assurances.
Speaking at the protest, AICAN President Mr. Jackson Nwosu said the renewed action was triggered by accumulating debt, worsening cashflow pressures, rising bank defaults, and asset seizures suffered by contractors who borrowed to execute government projects.
“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 said.
He dismissed claims that 80 percent of the debts had been settled, noting that at best only 30–40 percent of payments had been made, with warrants stopping in May 2025. Contractors, he said, continue to execute projects without corresponding payments, pushing total liabilities beyond ₦4 trillion.
Tension briefly escalated when security aides fired a shot into the air as the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, attempted to enter the ministry complex, causing panic among protesters.
Reacting to the incident, AICAN Vice President Mr. Fredrick Agada accused authorities of intimidation instead of addressing the contractors’ demands. “This is a peaceful protest. We are harmless. We are just sitting down peacefully, demanding our money, our payment,” he 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. He warned that continued neglect of indigenous contractors was damaging the domestic economy.
AICAN stressed that the protest would continue until all verified contract payments are made, insisting that indigenous contractors should not be treated differently from foreign firms, whose payments, they said, are processed without delay.
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