Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, has assured indigenous contractors that federal government will begin settling their outstanding payments starting next week.
Gatekeepers News reports that Edun gave the assurance on Thursday in Abuja after a meeting convened by Benjamin Kalu, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.
The meeting was held following recent protests by contractors who alleged they had been owed for over two years.
Edun noted that the government has now adopted a structured approach to clear the backlogs.
He said, “Under the leadership of the Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, we did hold a marathon meeting today where all the issues were discussed and a timeline was put in place and a way forward was mapped out and all parties at the end of it left knowing that contractors would be paid for jobs done and we have an orderly and systematic way of dealing with the backlogs which had approved overtime.”
The minister further commended both the House leadership and the contractors for engaging in dialogue.
He said, “Once again, we commend the leadership of the House of Representatives and the contractors for their willingness to sit down and dialogue. The Accountant-General of the Federation made some commitments which helped us to chart the way forward.”
“We had a peaceful solution. A timeline was put in place and everyone accepted that there are steps that need to be taken, approvals, finalization and orderly procedure for payments. After Friday’s holiday, the Central Bank will open again on Monday and payments will commence immediately.”
Shamseldeen Ogunjimi, Accountant-General of the Federation, confirmed the development, noting that the payment process was already in motion.
He said, “This process is ongoing. We’ve been paying contractors and we will continue to pay. From Monday, payments will start dropping.”
Leaders of the Association of Indigenous Contractors of Nigeria welcomed the resolution, commended Deputy Speaker Kalu for his intervention, and pledged to suspend their protest.
