The Minister of State for Finance, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite, yesterday, clashed with members of the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), over the alleged failure of the Federal Government to pay its members for contracts completed since 2024, despite several promises.

The contractors said the renewed action was triggered by accumulating debt, worsening cashflow pressures, rising bank defaults, and asset seizures suffered from borrowing to execute government projects.

Tension escalated when security aides fired a shot into the air as the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, attempted to enter the ministry complex, causing panic among protesters.

The minister, who arrived at the gate of the ministry some minutes after 10a.m., was denied entry into the compound. Incensed,her driverdrove through the protesters,and the vehicle ran over a physically-challenged AICAN member using crutches.

The situation further degenerated when the minister alighted from her vehicle, and her security personnel shot into the air to disperse protesters, who blocked her path and pushed her way through the barricade.

Reacting to the situation, Vice President of the association, Fredrick Agada, said: “The Minister of State was about to enter and she directed her people to shoot at us while we are gathered here legally demanding our payment and they just shot at us. We are harmless; we do not have anything with us. We are just sitting down peacefully demanding our money, our payment. 

“Agreements they entered with us;they have not kept any; that is why we are gathered here today.”
He lamented that the contractors had tried many times to meet with the minister, to no avail.

“The other day, we went to her office, we waited for five hours, she was just passing us through and through without meeting with us. 

“We want her to tell us why most of those payments finalised since December 31, 2025, have yet to drop till now.

But she refused to talk to us,” he explained.

President of the body, Jackson Ifeanyi Nwosu, said, as an association, “We will continue to be peaceful, no matter the amount of provocation. We will continue to be peaceful in demanding what is right.

“I advise the minister to tread with caution because some of these actions are demeaning. She will bring the government into disrepute. So, if she knows what she is doing, she will make sure funds areavailable for contractors. 

Also, the Secretary General of the group, Babatunde Seun, urged President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to intervene in the matter.

He said: “It is unfortunate that even when the President directed them to pay contractors, till now they’ve not complied. So, we are here to ask, what is the problem? What happened to the money? Where have they diverted our money to?”

Meanwhile, officials of the association were seen being led into the ministry for a meeting after the fracas.

In a related development, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Chairman of AICAN, Adebola Benson, appealed to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to clear outstanding debts in the territory.

Benson said many FCT contractors also relied on bank loans to execute projects and were now facing threats of arrest over unpaid loans.

He urged the minister to discount allegations that civil servants in the FCT administration executed the contracts.