There was tension on Monday at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja after protesting local contractors prevented the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite, from accessing the ministry’s premises.
The protesters, operating under the All Indigenous Contractors Association of Nigeria (AICAN), barricaded the ministry’s main gate to demand payment of outstanding debts allegedly owed to them by the Federal Government.
Upon the minister’s arrival, security operatives attempted to clear a passage for her into the complex, but the move was resisted by the demonstrators, who chanted slogans accusing the government of neglecting their welfare.
During the ensuing scuffle, a gunshot was heard as security personnel tried to disperse the crowd.
The contractors accused the Federal Government of failing to pay for completed projects and of withholding funds approved in the 2024 and 2025 budgets. They recalled that similar protests had been held last year at the National Assembly Complex and the Ministry of Finance.
In December 2025, President Bola Tinubu constituted a multi-ministerial committee to address the outstanding liabilities to federal contractors, estimated at about ₦1.5 trillion. The committee includes the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Director-General of the Budget Office, Tanimu Yakubu; Minister of Works, Dave Umahi; Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa; and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji.
A Senate committee has also summoned Wale Edun to explain the circumstances surrounding the delayed payments.
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