Get Guardian on GoogleA fresh crisis is brewing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as indigenous contractors have vowed to shut down critical roads in Abuja during the week in protest over alleged 10 months of unpaid contract fees.
They claimed that many of their contracts had been certified.The contractors, mostly local firms that executed maintenance services such as cleaning, street light maintenance, security services, and other infrastructural projects, accused the FCT Administration of deliberate sabotage.
Despite repeated appeals and documented evidence of job completion, they claim the FCTA has turned a deaf ear, while they sink deeper into debt.
At a strategy meeting at the weekend in Abuja, the aggrieved contractors resolved to embark on a mass protest to demand immediate payment.
One of the contractors, who craved anonymity, said: “We have borrowed heavily to execute these projects. Banks are coming after us. Our staff haven’t been paid since September last year. Yet, the same FCTA that gave us these jobs won’t release funds.”
More damning, according to Mrs Stella Onoja, one of the stakeholders who reside in Gwarinpa, is the visible collapse of basic services— particularly street lighting infrastructure across Abuja’s key highways and residential districts. She lamented that the blackout is now fueling a wave of one-chance robberies and assaults, especially at night.
“Criminals are taking advantage of the darkness. Our women are no longer safe commuting home after 7.00 p.m.,” she said. The planned protest is coming at a time when the FCTA is already grappling with public unrest, says another aggrieved contractor, who also craved anonymity. He lamented that maintenance jobs ought to have been given priority before any other contract because of their sensitive nature.
“Unfortunately, most companies engaged by the FCTA to maintain the city have not been paid a dime,” he said.
