Some local contractors have called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene over the alleged nonpayment for projects executed in 2024.

The affected contractors said they were groaning, while some claimed that they had been given payment vouchers but later discovered that there was no cash backing to access the said money.

They believed that the delay in the payment could not be divorced from the alleged centralisation of the payment procedures of the local contractors by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF).

“The resultant effect on us is that we keep on servicing the interests on the loans and the bonds we entered into to execute and complete these projects. We had hoped that the money would be released as scheduled. Our workers cannot get their salaries and meeting the needs of our families is becoming difficult on a daily basis,” said Mr. Ibrahim Bamisaye, a contractor from Ibadan, in a chat with reporters, on Friday, in Ilorin.

He added: “The precondition is that there must first be money on ground before the advertisement of the projects. Then the relevant agencies will upload and effect the payment to the various contractors. This did not cause any delay.

“But the newly approved policy, which is causing serious delay in the payment, is that all the contractors in Nigeria will now be paid directly from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation. It is causing serious traffic in the payment of our money. We want President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to help us look into this serious issue.”

Bamisaye, who applauded the President for reducing the indebtedness of Nigeria from International Monetary Fund (IMF) and boosting the external reserves of the nation, noted that the best way to measure the growth in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be a boost in the purchasing powers of the masses.

“When we are paid our money, the masses will feel the impact. The flow of money will be physically felt by them. Then it is the president that will receive the accolades. The local contractors are dying. The president should please come to our rescue.”

It had never been in the history of Nigeria that the government could not meet her obligations on budget implementation.

“If there is paucity of funds, the government should not advertise in the first instance. In the past, funds were released to the MDAs on a quarterly basis. We are almost in the fifth month of the 2025 fiscal year,” he added.