Amid the persistent high levels of poverty and hunger in Nigeria, due largely to the economic reforms introduced by the current administration, indigenous contractors are owed about N1.5trillion with no definite date of payment.
The non-payment of their contract sums has not only stalled their businesses, worsened their living conditions, but is also injurious to the economy that was supposed to benefit from the proceeds.
Apart from their inability to meet basic needs and payment of workers who usually live from hand to mouth, some of these contractors have lost their lives because they cannot afford hospital bills.
Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) while recently applauding the economic reforms in the country, also observed that the reforms have not yet translated into tangible benefits for the wider population, therefore, advised the federal government to use the fiscal savings from the fuel subsidy removal to protect critical development spending and to accelerate direct support for vulnerable citizens.
If the contractors are paid, it would trickle down to benefiting the entire economy, including lower income groups, through job creation, and investment.
Just this week, Monday, May 4, 2026, to be precise, the current Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, convened a high-level meeting with the representatives of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICON), with the promise to offset the over N1.5trillion debts owed to them.
Mr Oyedele who met with the representatives of the association in Abuja, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to resolving outstanding obligations to the local contractors in a fair, transparent, and structured manner, as part of broader efforts to sustain economic reforms and strengthen public confidence.
Oyedele said the presence of top government officials in the meeting reflects a coordinated institutional approach to resolving the issue, noting that discussions centred on the need for clarity, accountability, and a credible framework for resolving verified claims.
He said the parties at the meeting also brainstormed on the need for a structured approach to the obligations, one that balances the realities of public finances with the need to honour legitimate commitments.
According to him, resolving the obligations was important not just for contractors, but for confidence in government, jobs, business continuity, and economic stability.
While this meeting is applaudable, the outcome is still not convincing enough as it was just a mere promise. The ministry had met several times with these contractors in the past and all ended in promises to them.
Recall that on December 2, 2025, the contractors barricaded the entrance of the Ministry of Finance to demand for the payment of over N760 billion owed for completed projects in 2024.
The AICAN members who set their canopy directly at the entrance of the Ministry, said all the pledges made by the government during previous negotiations were not honoured.
The General Secretary of the Association, Babatunde Oyeniyi, told TheFact Daily that the contractors had approached the former Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, in September last year to find out what was delaying the payment.
He said after protracted negotiations, the Ministry signed an agreement with the association to pay the sum of N760 billion.
Oyeniyi said when the association waited for months without the payment, it besieged the national assembly for intervention.
He said at the national assembly, a meeting was scheduled and after long negotiations, assurances were given that the money would be paid.
He, however, lamented that a month after the last negotiations, nothing had happened, and the association members were dying.
The General Secretary said the protest was intended to force the government to speedily answer the contractors by paying their money.
“The demand is that they should just pay us. We have finished our work. All the contractors that have finished their work, they should pay them.
“We are not demanding anything else. We have worked, we have been certified, people have even started using the projects, so they should pay us,” he demanded.
When the issue became a national embarrassment, President Bola Tinubu directed the payment of N1.5 trillion to contractors, for verified contracts executed in 2024.
The President also raised a multi-ministerial panel to provide a permanent funding solution for contracts in the country, during a Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.
Out of the amount approved by the President, only about N152billion that was paid to the contractors by the Ministry of Finance, explaining that the process of payment for contracts goes through various verification processes in line with extant laws and regulations, to protect taxpayers’ money and ensure accountability and transparency.
Industry experts said while the promise of “orderly resolution” is good, timeline is everything, because if this takes another 6 months, jobs will vanish before the check clears. They, therefore, appealed to the government to speedily address the issue.
They also advised that for the sake of fairness and equity, payment should be made to all contractors across board, irrespective of whether or not they belong to any contractor’s association.
