JONAS EZIEKE, Abuja
With the aim of getting redressed representatives of indigenous contractors of the natio’ns capital has painfully written to the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja Barr. Nyesom Wike crying and demanding payments for marathon delayed contractual services alleging rather preferential express payment to foreign counterparts instead.
The group comprising representatives of indigenous contractors in a release in Abuja by Mr Jubril Umar alleges disdainful and disrespectful treatment by the Minister through obstruction to payment of verifiable completed contractual services rendered to various secretariats of Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) for which they pray the Minister to look into their plight adding that deaths have been recorded as a result of the predicaments.
In their letter addressed to the Minister which some journalists sighted in Abuja, the representatives of indigenous contractors pleaded with the Minister to do the needful and grant the request solicited for by payment of their contractual service debts to serve as succor for delayed payment for completed jobs.
According to the representatives, “It is heart wrenching after fulfilling all the duly processes of the contractual services to the completion stage with our hard earned money and loans from Banks (with accruing interests), yet our files are abandoned as a result of the Ministers directives, where-as the Honourable Minister consistently makes payments to foreign multinational companies. We keep wondering why we appear to be an exception when we have also done our works which are equally confirmable”.
While pleading with the Minister the group wrote in their letter of 15 July 2024 thus; “We implore the Honourable Minister of FCT to look into our plight and fulfill the contractual obligation to our members as a matter of exigency so that we can cater for our dependents’ basic human needs, medical bills and repay our loans to banks please.
“Recently we lost two of our members as a result of the marathon delayed payment by the Honourable Minister of FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike.
“It is noteworthy to state that this payment obstruction by the honorable Minister has created financial quagmire, psychological trauma, emotional and financial distress and untold hardship to Indigenous contractors of FCT.
“It is pertinent to state that we have written several correspondences to the Honourable Minister of FCT, Barrister Nyesom Wike seeking his attention to our plight, yet it fells on deaf ears.
The group further alleges that; “whereas he hastens to pay foreign multi-national companies in advance before completion of their own jobs but the Nigerian citizens who equally did their own jobs where left unpaid, this makes us to ponder why he has a special interest in a foreigner than his own citizens who had equally completed their own jobs”.
The contractors group also disclosed that the plight of the Indigenous contractors were compounded by Nyesom Wike’s tactical avoidance of meeting with their members who severally sought audience to no avail with the Minister who also was busy attending to foreign contractors expediently neglecting the locals.
Another local contactor who pleaded anonymity also revealed that, “The Honourable Minister Nyesom Wike rebuffs appointment of meeting with him and tactically avoided sitting with us for deliberations on the issues,” adding that they were unfairly left in limbo and facing untold economic hardships after rendering services to our country.
Concluding, the indigenous contactors representatives wrote thus; “In view of the aforementioned challenges of our members, we plead with the Honourable Minister to do the needful and grant us our request as we solicit a payment succor, please” and to forestall ontowards hardships and stave off further demise of our member that are rendering services contractually”.
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