Local contractors in the country have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and see to the payment of contracts they executed in various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) of government.
The contractors under the auspices of Local Contractors of Nigeria (LCN) made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday during a press briefing.
Publicity Secretary of the group Mr Dandy Rowland who addressed the press on behalf of the chairman said that over 5,000 contractors were affected by the delay in payment.
Rowland said the contracts were awarded between 2017 and 2010 in various MDAs, but regretted that payments have not been made even after the projects were completed and inaugurated.
“Local contractors borrowed money from banks with interest to execute these contracts, but up till this moment we have not been paid.
“Our continuous cry and appeal for payment attracted the attention of Mr President who inaugurated Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) in the Federal Ministry of Finance to verify these contracts.
“PICA has since verified these contracts and recommended for settlement of the liabilities in batches beginning with N10 million downwards.
“We are reliably aware that President Buhari who has zero tolerance for corruption has since last year approved and release some money to pay our members based on PICA’s verification.
“We are therefore calling on the president to mandate the Minister of Finance to pay Local contractors since the executed projects have been commissioned as part of achievement of the Federal Government,” Rowland said.
Vice Chairperson of the group, Hajiya Fatima Ibrahim, pleaded with the president to save them from hardship as some of their members have died while waiting for the money to be paid.
Ibrahim said some other members of the group were hospitalised but cannot afford their medical bills.
“Many local contractors have lost their homes to banks and creditors because they cannot pay back the loans collected, and some of our children have dropped out from school because we cannot afford their school fees,” Ibrahim added.
She appealed to the president to come to their aid and save their families from trauma and hardship caused by none payment of their money. (NAN)
