Indigenous contractors raise alarm over FCTA unpaid debts

The contractors, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Friday, lamented that while multinationals are paid by the FCTA the local ones are neglected to the detriment of the culture and policy of indigenization by government.They gave examples of payment of a paltry N50 for a contract executed amounting to N600 million for an […]

The contractors, who addressed a press conference in Abuja on Friday, lamented that while multinationals are paid by the FCTA the local ones are neglected to the detriment of the culture and policy of indigenization by government.
They gave examples of payment of a paltry N50 for a contract executed amounting to N600 million for an agency of the FCTA after spending 6-8 months before getting approval from the minister.
Chairman of the association, Chf. Ehikwe Ijefine, whose leadership the bulk of the contractors however said they had lost confidence in, confirmed the development in a telephone interview saying about N216 million was paid by FCTA to a handful of them three months ago.
The FCT Director of Treasury, Ibrahim Bomai, was not available for comments as he was in Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, but a senior official in the Treasury department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said FCTA has been following the directive of the minister for the outstanding payment of contracts of N50 million and below.
He said the process of payment is transparent as the association has always been carried along but due to dwindling revenue and severe cash crunch, which is not affecting FCTA but all other ministries, parastatals and agencies, all the debts cannot be settled at once.
The source said all monies FCTA receives from the federation account including internally generated revenues are mopped up and details including receipts from VAT and other taxes are presented to the FCT minister in a monthly report.
He said all matured bills arising from liabilities to contractors from various departments and agencies are similarly prepared monthly and a committee appointed by the minister to proportionately share the revenue for payment to contractors.