President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formed a multi-ministerial committee to address the long-standing issue of unpaid federal contractors, with outstanding obligations estimated at about N1.5 trillion.
Gatekeepers News reports that Bayo Onanuga, presidential adviser on information and strategy, said that after the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday, the President showed strong dissatisfaction when he was informed that more than 2,000 contractor, many of them local firms, have not been paid for completed projects.
He added that Adebowale Adedokun, director-general of the Bureau of Public Procurement, briefed Tinubu on the scale of the unpaid bills.
According to Onanuga, the newly formed committee includes top government officials who are expected to draw up a clear, workable plan for settling the debts.
Members of the team are Wale Edun, Minister of Finance; Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Tanimu Yakubu, Director-General of the Budget Office; Dave Umahi, Minister of Works; Ahmed Dangiwa, Minister of Housing; and Zacch Adedeji, Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service.
He said the committee has been directed to urgently look into the causes of the delays, identify funding options, and submit a practical proposal for paying the contractors.
Onanuga noted that Tinubu stressed the need for quick action and said the federal government is willing to borrow, if required, to clear verified debts.
Onanuga said, “All of them are supposed to sit down, develop a plan as a committee, and then go to the President to tell him the solution they have found in allocating funds to pay contractors.”
“He even said that, as a sovereign country, we can go and borrow to pay those contractors.”
This move comes after repeated demonstrations by contractors over unpaid claims. On Tuesday, members of the Coalition of Indigenous FCT Contractors protested an alleged N5.2 billion debt owed by the Federal Capital Territory Administration.
The group blocked the main entrance of the FCTA secretariat in Abuja with a truck and chanted the name of Nyesom Wike while demanding immediate payment for completed and verified projects.
