Tension gripped the entrance of the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Monday as protesting indigenous contractors barricaded the premises, preventing the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, from accessing the complex.
The protesters, under the umbrella of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), blocked the main gate in protest over unpaid contractual obligations allegedly owed by the Federal Government.
The contractors accused the government of failing to pay for completed projects, claiming that funds earmarked for this purpose in the 2024 and 2025 budgets had not been released. They said the prolonged delay had plunged many of their members into severe financial distress.
Speaking during the protest, AICAN President, Jackson Nwosu, said the demonstration was driven by mounting unpaid obligations, worsening cash flow, rising loan defaults, and the seizure of assets belonging to contractors who borrowed funds 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 by government officials that about 80 per cent of outstanding debts had been cleared, insisting that payments made so far accounted for only 30 to 40 per cent of verified claims.
According to him, the issuance of payment warrants stopped in May 2025, even as contractors continued to deliver projects without compensation, pushing total liabilities beyond N4tn.
As Uzoka-Anite arrived at the ministry, security operatives attempted to clear a path for her convoy, but were resisted by the demonstrators, who chanted loudly in protest. During the confrontation, a gunshot was heard as security personnel tried to disperse the crowd.
“How many people government go kill ooo… how many people government go kill,” the protesters chanted.
Reacting to the incident, AICAN Vice President, Fredrick Agada, accused authorities of intimidation instead of addressing the contractors’ grievances.
“This is a peaceful protest. We are harmless. We are just sitting down peacefully, demanding our money, our payment,” he said.
Also speaking, the association’s Secretary-General, Babatunde Oyeniyi, said AICAN had formally engaged the Ministry of Finance, the National Assembly and other relevant agencies since June 2025 without any tangible outcome.
He warned that the continued neglect of indigenous contractors was hurting the domestic economy and worsening financial hardship in the sector.
The association insisted that the protest would continue until all verified contract payments are fully settled, stressing that indigenous contractors should not be treated differently from foreign firms, whose payments, they alleged, are often processed without delay.
The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations staged by the group, following similar actions last year at the National Assembly Complex and the Ministry of Finance.
In December 2025, President Bola Tinubu constituted a multi-ministerial committee to address debts owed to federal contractors, estimated at about N1.5tn. Members of the committee include the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu; Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa; and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji.
Meanwhile, a Senate committee has invited Edun to explain the prolonged delay in settling contractors’ claims. The PUNCH had earlier reported that the Federal Government earmarked N1.7tn in the 2026 Appropriation Bill to settle outstanding debts for capital projects executed in 2024.
A breakdown of the proposed 2026 budget shows the allocation listed as “Provision for 2024 Outstanding Contractor’s Liabilities,” signalling official acknowledgement of delayed payments.
In addition, the government proposed N100bn for “Payment of Local Contractors’ Debts/Other Liabilities,” bringing the total allocation to N1.8tn under the broader N23.2tn capital expenditure plan for 2026, aimed at accelerating infrastructure delivery while clearing past obligations.
