Finance ministry, Accountant-General slammed over delayed contractors' payments

The Office of the Accountant-General and Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance have been charged by the Centre for Economic Justice and Social Equity (CEJSE) with gross negligence for their persistent failure to pay verified contractors who have finished government projects throughout the nation.

The association claimed that the delays are having disastrous economic effects, destroying small enterprises, raising unemployment, and undermining public faith in a forcefully written statement signed by its president, Dr. Ibrahim Okehi Omeiza.

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Omeiza said “The consistent refusal or failure to pay duly verified contractors has now become a silent but deadly virus spreading through the Nigerian economy,” said Dr. Omeiza. “Contractors are the lifeblood of national development… When they are owed for months and sometimes years, it leads to layoffs, defaults on loans, and a breakdown of local economies that depend on them.”

According to CEJSE, which described the situation as a type of economic injustice. “It is unacceptable that contractors are forced to move like beggars from one ministry to another after fulfilling their end of a legally binding agreement,” he continued.

Additionally, CEJSE stated that despite the availability of budgetary allocations are available, some contractors have been waiting up to 18 months for payment on recognised and approved projects.

“This is not just a fiscal issue; it’s a moral one,” Omeiza said. “We are no longer dealing with isolated incidents. It is systemic, deliberate, and disastrous.”

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“When a contractor shuts down due to non-payment, workers are sent home. Markets that supply building materials are affected. Families go hungry. Children are withdrawn from school. We are watching a chain reaction of despair, and the silence from key government officials is deafening,” it added.

The group called for an immediate release of all outstanding payments, a public audit of the payment delays, and comprehensive reforms in contractor payment processes.

In addition to calling for a public assessment of the delay pattern and a commitment to structural reform in the way contractor payments are handled across ministries and agencies, the Centre demanded that all outstanding payments to contractors who have finished and approved their projects be released immediately.