Unpaid contractors on Friday stormed the Headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Abuja, blocking the main entrance to the Minister’s office to protest non-payment of the sum of N17 billion said to be the cost of contracts they executed since 2018.
The angry contractors, who insisted that the Minister or the Permanent Secretary must come out and address them, lamented that some of their colleagues have died from a heart attack as a result of non-payment of the debt owed to them by the Ministry.
The protesting contractors who were chanting the “Minister Must Go”, “the Permanent Secretary Must Go”, “Pay Us Our Money” could not be stopped or driven out of the Ministry by the security personnel on duty.
They said credit facilities they obtained from banks to execute the various contracts have accumulated service charge and interests.
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The contractors, who threatened to seek legal redress over the matter, said they have run out of patience, allegedly accusing both the Minister and
the Permanent Secretary of corruption and incompetence.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government through the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation had queried the Ministry’s former Permanent Secretary, Mohammed Bello, over alleged misappropriation of funds.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
