- Safiu Kehinde
Members of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN) have on Wednesday stormed the Federal Ministry of Finance with a coffin. staging funeral of the Finance Minister, Wale Edun, in protest over alleged unpaid funds for projects executed in 2024.
The association claimed the Federal Government owes contractors about N4 trillion but is specifically demanding the release of N760 billion which it said Edun, had earlier pledged to pay in September.
According to reports, the protesters placed the symbolic coffin at the entrance of the ministry, saying it represented the hardship and deaths experienced among members due to the prolonged non-payment.
The protesters as captured in a post shared on X pasted the Finance Minister’s pictures on the coffin with some of them writing tribute in front of one of the pcitures.
Speaking to newsmen, AICAN Deputy National President (North Central), Mr Abdullahi Yamani, said the delay in payment had caused severe hardship for members.
He said the group resorted to symbolic demonstrations to draw attention to the plight of contractors, adding that they had recently lost a member, due to the financial strain associated with unpaid contract sums.
According to him, many of the completed projects had already been commissioned by the National Assembly, while government had taken credit for them.
“We have fulfilled our part. Government must also fulfil its own, but it has refused to do that,” he said.
Mr Rotimi Raheem, Public Relations Officer of the association, appealed to the Federal Government to honour its obligations, saying this was the third protest held over the matter.
He said members were prepared to continue the demonstration until the outstanding funds were released.
“The National Assembly intervened during our last protest in November and urged the minister to pay the contractors. Up till now, nothing has been done,” he said.
He added that some members spent the night at the ministry’s entrance and were ready to remain there for days.