More than 400 contractors have threatened to decommission boreholes and retrieve supplied equipment over what they say is a two year unpaid debt of N38 billion owed by the Kaduna State Government.
The contractors, engaged under a 2023 agreement with the state through Formal Act Legacy, said they mobilized to the site, supplied materials, and completed projects across the state, but have not received payment.
Speaking at a press conference in Kaduna on Saturday, Chairman of the Eagle Brain Human Rights Organization, Comrade Daniel Ejembi, accused the state of “economic strangulation” and bureaucratic indifference.
“In 2023, the Kaduna State Government signed the N38 billion deals with Formal Act Legacy for projects across the state,” Ejembi said.
He added that contractors acted on directives from the Ministry of Local Government, with a memo from Commissioner Sadiq Mamman Lagos instructing them to return to the site and complete outstanding work.
“To date, not a single kobo has been paid. No explanation has been given. No meeting has been convened to brief these contractors on the cause of the delay,” he said. The group said many contractors borrowed heavily from banks and loan firms at high interest to meet the directive.
They warned that the debt had caused businesses to collapse and families to lose homes, while some members had fallen ill or left the country. The dispute intensified after N150 million was raised from the sale of drugs left by the Managing Director of Formal Act Legacy.
The contractors rejected a proposal to distribute the funds among nearly 300 of them, calling it “tokenism.”
“Let us be clear: N150 million divided among 400 contractors amounts to less than N500,000 each. This is a mockery of the millions owed to each contractor,” the group said. Contractors said they had petitioned the EFCC, which they claimed had computed claims at about N30 billion.
They said the agency had recovered some items and secured court orders for their sale, with a few contractors receiving payment.
The group demanded immediate payment of all outstanding debts, full disclosure on why payments have been withheld for over two years, and an independent audit of both the N38 billion contracts and the N150 million drug sale.
They also called for an end to what they described as “harassment of contractors through exploitative loan arrangements caused by state inaction.”
