FCT indigenous contractors plead with Wike over payment

The indigenous contractors of the FCT have appealed to the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, to come to their aid and pay them outstanding monies for projects completed and verified. The contractors, who lamented the delay in the settlement of their monies, asked the minister to give them the same consideration he was giving to […]

The indigenous contractors of the FCT have appealed to the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, to come to their aid and pay them outstanding monies for projects completed and verified.

The contractors, who lamented the delay in the settlement of their monies, asked the minister to give them the same consideration he was giving to foreign contractors.

The contractors, in a statement signed by one Jubril Umar, explained that the delay in fulfilling contractual agreement for services rendered had made life miserable for them, especially in the face of the prevailing situation in the country.

They argued that the FCT minister had always been prompt in payment to their foreign counterparts, wondering why their own case should be different.

They said that at least two of their members had died while waiting for payment for jobs executed.

The statement reads in part: “It is heart wrenching after fulfilling all the due processes of the contractual services to the completion stage with our hard-earned money and loans from banks (with accruing interests), yet our files are abandoned as a result of the minister’s directives, whereas the minister consistently makes payments to foreign multinational companies.

“We keep wondering why we appear to be an exception when we have also done our work; which is equally confirmable. We implore the Minister of the FCT to look into our plight and fulfill the contractual obligation to our members as a matter of exigency so that we can cater for our dependents’ basic human needs, medical bills and repay our loans to banks please.”