The indigenous contractors have accused the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, of preferential payment of foreign contractors over their indigenous counterparts.

The contractors in a leaked letter to Wike, alleged that their files were abandoned “on the directive of the minister” while payments were consistently made to foreign companies.

“It is heart wrenching after fulfilling all the duly processes of the contractual services to the completion stage with our hard earned money and loans from Banks (with accruing interests), yet our file is abandoned.”

The letter which was dated July 15, 2024, implored the minister to look into “our plight and fulfill the contractual obligation to our members as a matter of exigency so that we can cater for our dependents’ basic human needs, medical bills and repay our loans to banks please.

“To buttress our appeal, recently we lost two of our members as a result of the marathon delayed payment…..

“It is noteworthy to state that this payment obstruction by the Honorable Minister has created financial quagmire, psychological trauma, emotional and financial distress and untold hardship to indigenous contractors of FCT.”

They recalled that they have written several letters to the minister, seeking his attention to their plight, but regretted that they all fell on deaf ears.

“Where-as he hastens to pay foreign companies in advance before completion of their own jobs but the Nigerian citizens who equally did their own jobs were left unpaid.

“This makes us to ponder why he has a special interest in a foreigner than his own citizens who had equally completed their own jobs.”

The group disclosed that their plight were compounded by Wike’s tactical avoidance of meeting with the contractors who severally sought audience to no avail “who also was busy attending to foreign contractors expediently neglecting the locals.” (Text, excluding headline: New Telegraph)

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