The All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria on Monday protested over the delay by the Federal Government, paying for some projects executed by its members.
The Vice President of the association, Mr Ode Agada, speaking during a protest at the Ministry of Finance, urged the government to pay all outstanding money for the projects executed by its members.
He said that some of the members were dying as a result of the pressure from the bank.
”We are owing banks and our members are dying as a result of the pressure from the bank.
“This is affecting us differently, some of our members have lost their houses, their properties to the bank, also,the interest keeps increasing every day.
”And we don’t have a law that says, or even if the law is in place, it’s not being practised,that says that if you are not paid for like three, four, five, six months, there will be upward repayment, there is nothing like that in place.
“We granted press conference in June, begging President Bola Tinubu to intervene by calling the Minister of Finance to help us by paying the local contractors,” Agada said.
In a separate interview, Alhaji Abdukadir Umar said that the local contractors are the bedrock of the economy.
“We get to the grassroots because government alone cannot distribute wealth. Government cannot give money to an individual, society, or electricians.
“But it is true that we employ the electricians,.carpenters and mercenaries, they work for us, they get money and feed their family.
“So this is how government distributes these things. But with the situation today, if you go to the village or julius berger junction you will see workers lying down doing nothing.
“So we want government to pay us so we can extend it to them,” he said.
Also, Mr Veno Oroko said that the procurement act of 2007 states that before a job is awarded, the money is kept.
”I am one of the contractors being owed by the Federal Government. We have finished our jobs since November last year.
“What happened to the money? Who diverted the money? We borrowed money from the banks, from financial institutions the interest have taken the whole money.
”Personally, if I am paid, I need to look for money to pay the interest.
“What happened to the money that was allocated for this job? I can’t pay my bills, my rent or the interest, this is sad and who takes responsibility for this,” he said.
