AICAN President Says N40 Billion, Not N700 Billion Released To Contractors, Not Yet Received

The National President of All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), Jackson Nwosu says in a previous reconciliation meeting with officials from the finance ministry and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) with contractors, an agreement was reached to immediately release a tranche of N40 billion to beneficiaries by last Friday, a timeline the government failed to meet, reports The Guardian.

The contractors had on June 8, 2026 staged a fresh protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters in Abuja, refuting widespread reports that the Federal Government had disbursed N700 billion to settle outstanding liabilities owed to local contractors.

The protest came just as the Federal Ministry of Finance reportedly approved payments to more than 1,240 contractors. The payments cover contractors across various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).

However, the protesting contractors, who blocked the entrance to the ministry, clarified that the disputed sum is part of an overarching N1 trillion debt owed by the Federal Government for capital projects executed nationwide during the 2024 fiscal year.

Speaking during a demonstration, Nwosu revealed that despite previous bureaucratic assurances, approximately 85 per cent of indigenous contractors remain unpaid.

The National Secretary of the association, Babatunde Seun, disputed the fiscal data in the public domain, stating that members had yet to receive any bank alerts corresponding to the purported N700 billion payment.

Seun rejected the proposal of partial payments, blaming the administrative delays on the slow issuance of cash warrants to various Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs).

A veteran member of the association, Ndubueze Kingsley, decried the psychological and financial toll of the impasse, lamenting that many local firms had suffered asset foreclosures due to accumulated bank interest.

Responding to the aggrieved protesters on behalf of the government, the Permanent Secretary (Special Duties) at the Ministry of Finance, Mohammed Sanusi, urged patience, explaining that the treasury was balancing multiple competing fiscal liabilities.

He said the N700 billion mentioned in public reports had indeed been approved by the presidency, but explained that administrative cash backing protocols take time to process.

On the payment approval for 1,240 local contractors, the ministry said that contractors prioritised for payment in the most recent batch were those with verified claims in the region of N100 million or less.

ThisDay reports that Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, gave the approval after a diligent verification and reconciliation undertaken by the ministry to ensure that only duly validated obligations qualify for payment, a statement issued by the ministry’s spokesperson, Efe Ovuakporie disclosed.

The contractors had repeatedly staged protests at the Federal Ministry of Finance headquarters and the FCT Secretariat to demand the payment of outstanding debts for executed and commissioned projects. The most daring took place last December when they barricaded the main gate of the ministry for days with a mock coffin of the former Minister, Mr. Wale Edun, preventing any form of entry or exit.

The protesting contractors claimed that the government had been issuing payment warrants without cash backing, comparing them to “dud checks.”

 They had also criticized the central payment system implemented by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) and the Ministry of Finance, advocating for a return to older payment methods.

The back and forth between the federal government and the contractors continued until Edun was recently removed in a minor cabinet exercise, which brought in Oyedele as his replacement. However, the statement by the ministry added: “The Federal Ministry of Finance has approved payments to more than 1,240 contractors.

“The approval, granted by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, follows a diligent verification and reconciliation undertaken by the Ministry to ensure that only duly validated obligations qualify for payment.

“The payments cover contractors across various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and represent a significant step in addressing long-standing payment obligations, particularly those affecting indigenous businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).”

 The statement further stated that contractors prioritized for payment in the most recent batch were those with verified claims in the region of N100 million or less.

The release of funds was expected to provide immediate relief to hundreds of businesses, enabling them to return to project sites, pay workers, settle suppliers, meet financial commitments, and support economic activity across the country, the statement added.

“This development reflects the Ministry’s commitment to translating policy objectives into tangible outcomes by resolving inherited obligations in a transparent and fiscally responsible manner.

“Over the past few months, the federal government has processed payments exceeding N700 billion across various categories of verified obligations owed to local contractors.