AFTER 2 YEARS… Contractors threaten to shut down Kaduna boreholes over N39bn debt

*Bemoan harassment by banks over loans

GABRIEL UDEH, KADUNA

More than 400 contractors engaged under a N38 billion agreement with the Kaduna State Government since 2023 say they have not been paid a kobo, prompting threats to decommission completed boreholes and retrieve supplied items.

The Eagle Brain Human Rights Organisation Chairman, Comrade Daniel Ejembi who led the group of contractors raised the alarm Saturday at a press conference in Kaduna, accusing the state of “economic strangulation” and bureaucratic indifference.

“In 2023, the Kaduna State Government signed the N38 billion deal with Formal Act Legacy for projects across the state”, he said.

According to the group, contractors mobilized to site, supplied materials, drilled boreholes, and completed work based on directives from the Ministry of Local Government.

They further explained that the Commissioner for Local Government, Sadiq Mamman Lagos had issued a memo, through a committee headed by the Permanent Secretary, instructing contractors to return to site and finish their jobs, as many said they borrowed heavily from banks and loan firms at high interest to comply.

“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,” the group said.

“The situation worsened after a draft was raised from the sale of drugs left by the Managing Director of Formal Act Legacy. The drugs were sold for N150 million and are now proposed for distribution to nearly 300 contractors.

“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 and a deliberate attempt to dismiss legitimate claims with tokenism,” the organization stated.

The group said contractors have lost homes, businesses have collapsed, and families can no longer pay school fees or medical bills as banks call in loans. It described the situation as causing “mental and economic trauma” directly tied to the state’s failure to pay.

In reaction, contractors have resolved to decommission their boreholes and retrieve supplied items if payment is not made “within the shortest possible time”. However, the group said it is “not a threat” but “a last act of self-preservation.”

Eagle Brain Human Rights Organization 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 contract and the N150 million drug sale.

The Rights body also called for an end to what it termed “harassment of contractors through exploitative loan arrangements caused by state inaction.”

The group urged the media, the public, and anti-corruption agencies to investigate, saying “justice delayed is justice denied, and in this case, justice has been denied for too long.”.

“It may not be easy to get across to any bank to get that form of loan. So we have to run to these money lending people. We have to get the money at an exorbitant rate and completed the projects,” one contractor said.

“Months after completing those projects, no dime has been paid to any contractor. So it’s dehumanising. It has brought our dignity down.”

The Contractors said the human cost has been severe. “This has been so serious and so heavy on the contractors to the extent that quite a number of us have lost their lives. A number of us have run into diaspora,” a contractor told reporters. One member is in Algeria and has vowed not to return until the matter is resolved, leaving his family behind. Others have been hospitalized or tormented by banks and loan companies.

The projects, awarded and signed by local government chairmen on their letter-headed paper, included borehole drilling, supply of vehicles, machines, generators, and hospital equipment.

According to the comrade Ejembi, “Formal Act Legacy, the contractors said, he only served as a mediator and government eye on the project.

On what he termed “Tokenism” over N150m drug sale, the group noted that the situation worsened after a draft was raised from the sale of drugs left by the Managing Director of Formal Act Legacy, and sold for N150 million “and are now proposed for distribution to nearly 300 contractors”.

“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 and a deliberate attempt to dismiss legitimate claims with tokenism,” the group said.

The contractors said they’re now operating under a forum close to 400 members, adding that Formal Act Legacy however told them that the total number is higher.

“They have also engaged the EFCC, which they said computed claims at about N30 billion from contractors who petitioned the agency. The contractors’ own estimates remains at N38 billion.

“In fairness to EFCC, they have done their best,” the group said. “They were able to recover certain items, and those items that were recovered, they have gotten court order to sell off those things. The few, the very few, about five or so, that were lucky, whose items were recovered immediately have been paid.” he added.

Eagle Brain Human Rights Organisation, who ‘led the contractors 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 contract and the N150 million drug sale.

It also called for an end to what it termed “harassment of contractors through exploitative loan arrangements caused by state inaction.”