Dare Babalola
Protesting local contractors under the aegis of the All-Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria blocked the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Wednesday, barricading entrances with a coffin as they demanded payment of over N500 billion owed by the Federal Government.
The protest brought traffic to a standstill, shutting down the ministry as contractors made another push for payment, citing long-overdue obligations for completed projects.
Led by National Secretary Babatunde Seun-Oyeniyi, the protesters slammed the Finance Ministry for repeatedly shifting goalposts, making empty promises, and showing no real intent to settle the debt despite multiple meetings.
Speaking to journalists at the ministry’s gate, Oyeniyi said the contractors were frustrated by the government’s failure to release funds after numerous assurances. He explained that earlier in the year, when the National Assembly intervened, the contractors suspended their demonstrations in good faith—only for the ministry to reportedly go silent once again.
“After the National Assembly intervened, they told us they would sit the minister down over this matter, and we immediately stopped the protest,” he said. “But since then, nothing has happened. We’ve come here more than six times. Last week, we were here throughout the night before the Minister of Finance came.”
Oyeniyi insisted that the contractors had verifiable evidence that funds were available. “From our last conversation with the minister, he told us there was about N150bn ready to pay indigenous contractors. We don’t know why it is still being delayed,” he said.
He added that although the contractors had sighted some payment warrants, the funds had not been cash-backed.
“Specifically, when we collated, they are owing more than N500bn for all indigenous contractors. We only see warrants; there is no cash,” he said.
The association further accused government officials of attempting to push the payments into the 2026 fiscal year, a move they warned would worsen their financial distress.
“The problem is that they want to push us into a backlog. They want to shift us to 2026. They will turn us into debt, and we don’t want that. We won’t leave here until we are paid,” Oyeniyi declared.
The contractors also alleged that Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, had directed them back to the National Assembly, the same body that previously mediated in the dispute, creating fresh confusion and deepening mistrust.
Meanwhile, civil servants and visitors were stranded for hours as the demonstrators blocked the ministry’s two main gates, chanting solidarity songs including: “Na our money we need o, Wale Edun pay us, Tinubu pay us.”
Many of the demonstrators carried placards expressing their frustration, saying banks no longer had confidence in sponsoring government projects because contractors were not being paid. Some lamented that several of their colleagues had already lost their lives through suicide as a result of prolonged financial hardship.
Others complained that although inflation had eroded the value of the money owed to them, the government should at least honour its obligations.
The protesters further accused the government of killing small businesses by refusing to release funds for completed projects. They argued that delaying payments for nearly a year amounted to a crime against humanity and insisted that such persistent delays constituted fraud, not just mere injustice. According to them, contractors deserve timely payment, not repeated promises that never materialise.
The standoff marks another chapter in the growing tensions; contractors stormed the National Assembly in November, prompting the House of Representatives to suspend plenary for a week over unpaid funds for 2024 and 2025.
As of Wednesday morning, the Federal Ministry of Finance had not issued an official statement addressing the protest, and ministry officials remained tight-lipped regarding the contractors’ allegations, leaving the standoff unresolved.
