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Benjamin Babine, Abuja
Members of Local Contractors of Nigeria (LCN), on Tuesday, took to the streets of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to protest against Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that they claimed have not paid for contracts that had been executed for many years.
The contractors who particularly lamented the Minister of Finance, Budget and Planning, has done very little to helpthem, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Minister to order. They said that the Minister, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, should pay them or resign from her position.
The National Chairman of the LCN, Godwin Tabansi, while addressing newsmen in front of Akwa Ibom House while leading the protest towards the Ministry of Finance, said that the government has not paid local contractors who executed projects but have payed foreign contractors.
He said that many LCN members are facing lawsuits from banks and other financial agencies for loans that they took to execute government projects, meanwhile the government have not payed for the projects.
Mr Tabansi said: “We want the world to hear our voice, we have written letters uto the Minister of Finance particularly. She has been postponing us and saying they will pay. At the end of day, each promise has been empty.
“Now we are appealing to the Presidency to come to our aid so that we can be able to feed our families. We are appealing to the Presidency so that the Minister, Zainab Ahmed, will pay us. It is said that if a man cannot feed his family, he is worse than an Infidel. Zainab is turning lots of contractors into infidels to their families.
“We are calling on the Minister to within fourteen days, release these payments or resign. So many contractors have been suffering, some of them have even died. There’s no money to pay fees for children if school resumes.
