Group cautions Tinubu, ministers on unpaid local contractors

The National Forum of APC Young Professionals (NFAYP) has called on President Bola Tinubu and key members of his cabinet to urgently clear outstanding debts owed to indigenous contractors across Nigeria, saying continued delays threaten economic livelihoods and could have political repercussions ahead of the 2027 general elections.

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In a statement issued Sunday evening and signed by the National Chairman, Lukman Adejobi, and Secretary, Godwin Lukas, the forum expressed dismay at what it described as the federal government’s failure to honour payment commitments to local contractors, despite interventions by the National Assembly and presidential directives.

NFAYP’s demand comes against the backdrop of multiple, high-profile protests by indigenous contractors across Abuja in 2025, highlighting deepening frustration with government inaction.

Last year, the prolonged dispute between the federal government and indigenous contractors escalated into sustained street protests in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

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Hundreds of contractors affiliated with the Association of Indigenous Contractors of Nigeria (AICAN) and other groups barricaded major government buildings, including the main gates of the National Assembly complex and the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja.

The demonstrations disrupted legislative activities and forced the House of Representatives to suspend plenary for one week in solidarity with the protestors.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that contractors, armed with placards and loudspeakers, blocked the National Assembly entrance for days, demanding payment of billions of naira owed for contracts executed and completed under the 2024 fiscal year.

Lawmakers noted that security operatives had at times closed the main gate to contain the standoff, causing heavy traffic and interruptions in parliamentary business.

The House, thereafter, issued a formal seven-day ultimatum to the Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the Accountant-General of the Federation to settle outstanding debts tied to the 2024 and 2025 budgets.

They, however, made a U-turn to reconvene the following day, claiming that’ the decision follows “positive developments arising from engagements and interventions across various levels of government concerning issues that informed the earlier adjournment, particularly matters relating to contractors’ agitations and the non-release of funds under the 2024/2025 budget.”

Beyond the National Assembly, local contractors blocked access to the Ministry of Finance, waving placards decrying prolonged non-payment for contracts executed under the 2024 capital programme. Organisers said warrants had been issued, but actual disbursements never materialised, leaving many firms unable to meet loan obligations.

NFAYP reacts

NFAYP, which is not an organ of the ruling party, APC, said government assurances, including interventions by a presidential committee and National Assembly oversight, had yielded only piecemeal payments, with more than ₦2 trillion still outstanding, according to the forum’s own checks.

“We have sounded this warning severally. You are complaining of a lack of funds and said you have appropriated the sum of N1.8 trillion in the 2026 budget to clear outstandings of the 2024 capital projects executed by indigenous contractors, but you are paying foreign contractors; how do you want their local counterparts to feel?

“You have forgotten that these same local contractors would be the ones to stand for you tomorrow during elections. No foreigner can decide any vote during elections in Nigeria. If we don’t treat our own right, we would be the ones to suffer the consequences when the time comes,” the statement added.

The forum argued that failure to pay local contractors has eroded their creditworthiness, pushed some firms to bankruptcy, and weakened confidence in public contracting. It also flagged the potential impact on the 2027 elections, suggesting that unpaid contractors may withhold support or even switch allegiances, affecting the APC’s electoral prospects.

It called on the federal government to take “desperate steps to urgently attend to the obligations owed to the indigenous contractors, while calling on the contractors to shelve their planned protests this January and give the federal government a little more time, to enable the outstandings of the 2024 budget cleared.”