The All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), Abuja branch, has called on the federal government to pay the contract sums owed its members for projects executed in 2024.

Jackson Ifeanyi, national president of the association, made the call at a news conference on Monday in Abuja.

He said, contrary to the government’s claims that all outstanding 2024 contract liabilities had been settled, many indigenous contractors were yet to receive payment.

Mr Ifeanyi urged the minister of finance, Wale Edun, to transmit the outstanding funds to the relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) for onward payment to contractors.

According to him, while some completed projects had been uploaded onto the payment platform, many others had yet to be captured.

He warned that if the demands were not met, members would have no option but to embark on a protest, as earlier agreed in their meetings.

“As we approach August, certain conditions have been partially addressed. The major concern for protest, as stated in our second demand, has been met.

“However, we demand that the remaining conditions be promptly addressed through this press conference rather than resorting to protest.

“The Minister has promised that warrants for April, May, June and July will be issued immediately after the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in mid-August.

“Nonetheless, we demand the immediate transmission of these warrants to the various MDAs without delay,” he said.

Mr Ifeanyi described as unfair and unjust the continuous withholding of contractors’ payments, noting that many of them obtained bank loans to execute the projects.

He urged the government to act urgently and responsibly to avoid further breakdown of trust, recalling that such situations had occurred in the past.

(NAN)