Local contractors from the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria staged a protest at the Federal Ministry of Finance on Tuesday, blocking both entrances to demand payment of what they called long-overdue debts for completed government projects.

Leading the protest, the association’s National Secretary, Babatunde Seun-Oyeniyi, accused the Federal Government of repeatedly changing its stance and failing to honour commitments made in previous meetings with officials.

Addressing journalists at the ministry’s entrance, Oyeniyi said the government’s repeated failure to release funds despite multiple assurances had compelled contractors to resume their protests. He stated that members of the association are owed over N500 billion for projects that have already been completed and commissioned.

Oyeniyi added that, despite recent assurances from Finance Minister Wale Edun, no payments have been made.

“After the National Assembly intervened, they told us that they will sit the minister down over this matter. And we immediately stopped the protest,” he said.

He said that repeated follow-up meetings with the minister had yielded no tangible progress.

“They have not responded to our request,” he said. “In fact, more than six times we have come here. Last week, we were here throughout the night before the Minister of Finance came.”

He added that the contractors were baffled by the continued delays, even after the minister reportedly confirmed that part of the funds was available, “Even from the last conversation we had, we even told him, OK, for now, you said you have up to N150bn to pay all indigenous contractors. We don’t know why it is causing delays.”

Oyeniyi ststed that although some payment warrants had been sighted, no funds had been released.

“Specifically, when we collate, they are owing more than N500bn for all indigenous contractors. We only see warrants; there is no cash back.”

He accused officials of trying to defer the payments to the next fiscal year. “The problem is that they want to put us into a backlog. They want to shift us to 2026, that 2026 they are going to pay,” he alleged. “They will turn us into debt, and we don’t want that. We won’t leave here until we are paid.”

The contractors also said that Edun had directed them back to the National Assembly, which had previously mediated the dispute. The ongoing standoff left ministry staff and visitors stranded as protesters blocked the two main gates.

Many demonstrators carried placards with messages such as, “Banks no longer have confidence in sponsoring government projects,” “Many contractors have lost their lives through suicide,” “Though we cannot have value for our money again, pay us what you’re owing us,” and “You are killing small businesses, pay what you owe.”

Tensions between the contractors and the government have intensified in recent months. In November, the House of Representatives suspended plenary for a week after contractors stormed the National Assembly Complex, accusing the government of failing to release funds budgeted for 2024 and 2025.

The Finance Ministry has not yet issued an official statement on Tuesday’s protest, and its officials remained silent.