Fct Area Council Service Commission Contractors Insist On 100% Payment Of Their Outstanding Debt

Fct Area Council Service Commission Contractors Insist On 100% Payment Of Their Outstanding Debt And Urge Fct Minister Of State To Intervene In n408 Million Unpaid Contracts For Area Council Service Consultants

A legal representative of the unpaid area council service commission contractors has written to the Honourable Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on behalf of a group of consultants. The letter highlights the ongoing issue of unpaid contracts totalling N408.6 million, dating back to 2020, and calls for urgent intervention to prevent further economic hardship for the contractors involved.
The lawyers acknowledge the Minister’s previous efforts, which included suspending further training by the Area Council Service Commission to allow funds to accumulate for settling the outstanding debts. However, the letter notes that this directive has been disregarded, as the Commission resumed training activities in June 2024, using funds initially earmarked for paying the consultants. So far, 28 training sessions have been conducted, depleting a significant portion of the N127 million that had been saved over three months under the Minister’s directive.

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The lawyers express concern over the Commission’s decision to pay only 23 out of 163 contractors, leaving 140 still unpaid. This partial payment represents just 14.5% of the total contractors, with no clear plan for settling the remaining debts. The letter criticizes the unilateral decision by the Commission to allocate 70% of the available training funds to its own operations, leaving only 30% for the contractors—a move described as “economic sabotage” and “official insubordination.”
The legal team warns that the current approach could result to contractors remaining unpaid for the next three years, undermining the Minister’s objectives of promoting good governance and financial transparency. They emphasize the financial strain on the contractors, many of whom borrowed funds to execute the projects, accumulating significant interest.

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The lawyers are requesting that the Minister reinstate the original directive to suspend training until all debts owed the consultants are cleared, or at the very least, reverse the payment percentage to allocate 70% of funds to the contractors. They stress that failure to address these concerns could lead to legal action, which they hope to avoid through the Minister’s prompt and decisive intervention.