*Akpabio says part of it will be used to pay local contractors
Sunday Aborisade in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate seeking approval for a fresh ₦1.15 trillion borrowing from the domestic debt market to finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.
The request was contained in a letter read on Tuesday by Senate President Godswill Akpabio during plenary.
According to the President, the proposed borrowing is aimed at bridging the funding gap and ensuring full implementation of government programmes and projects outlined in the 2025 fiscal plan.
Following the announcement, Akpabio referred the request to the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt, chaired by Senator Aliyu Wammako (APC, Sokoto North), with a directive to report back within one week for further legislative action.
Akpabio during plenary acknowledged the protests carried out by local contractors which led to the closure of all major entrances to the National Assembly that part of the loan would be used to settle them.
Hundreds of members of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN) had on Tuesday stormed the National Assembly in Abuja to protest the Federal Government’s alleged failure to pay billions of naira owed to local contractors for completed projects.
The contractors, who marched through the streets carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs, accused the government of deliberately neglecting Nigerian-owned firms while prioritising payments to foreign contractors.
They said the development has crippled many indigenous businesses, forced several into bankruptcy, and worsened unemployment in the country.
According to the protesters, the Federal Government is indebted to local contractors to the tune of about ₦760 billion, representing verified projects already executed and certified across various ministries, departments, and agencies.
AICAN leaders, however, claimed the total outstanding for completed capital projects could exceed ₦4 trillion, when other pending obligations are included.
They told journalists during the protest that the government’s continued delay in settling verified debts had pushed many contractors to the brink of collapse.
They lamented that despite several assurances from the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Office, the promised payments have not materialised.
They said, “Government officials keep saying that our payments have been approved and warrants issued, but there is no cash backing.
“What that means is that the payment exists only on paper while contractors are left to suffer.
“We borrowed money from banks to execute these projects, and today, the same banks are taking over our properties because we cannot repay our loans.”
AICAN maintained that it would no longer accept new contracts without upfront mobilisation payments, stressing that previous experiences had shown that completed projects often linger unpaid for years.
The association also called on President Bola Tinubu to personally intervene in the matter and ensure that future projects are properly cash-backed to avoid recurring debt traps.
The contractors’ action followed months of frustration over what they described as the government’s “deliberate insensitivity” to their plight.
Despite claims by officials that about ₦3.1 trillion had been approved for contractor payments, AICAN insists that many of its members remain unpaid.
Last month, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Okezie Kalu, facilitated a meeting between the association and the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, in an effort to resolve the impasse.
However, the contractors say no tangible outcome has followed.
The protesters urged lawmakers to intensify oversight of the capital budget and ensure that payment processes for verified projects are transparent and timely.
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