Our Members Are Languishing In Prison, Kaduna Contractors Cry Out
… Beg El-rufai To Pay N1.2B Owe By State Govt.
Zainab Tanimu
Kaduna, North-West, Nigeria
A plea has been made to the Kaduna State Government to complete payment of an agreed contract amounting to the tune of N1.2 billion.
A group of KADRA drainage contractors in Kaduna State who made this plea begged the state governor, Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-rufai to use his good office to see that the needful is done as some of its members are languishing in jail.
Most of its members the group explained secured loans from banks and are paying darely for it. It said.
The Chairman of the group, Aminu Idris, while addressing newsmen in Kaduna on Friday said, several letters had already been written to the Kaduna state government and that none yielded positive result.
“We are calling on the government of Kaduna state to come to our aid.
As I speak to you now, our members are finding it so difficult to carry out their responsibilities as the head of the family”, he said.
A member of the group, Nasir Abubakar also explained that a committe was set up by the government sometimes last year, which according to him had satified the quality of the contracts carried out by the contractors.
” Most of our members secured loan from the banks to carry out these contracts across the 23 local government of the state. But today, we are in pains due to non payment of the contract fees by the government.
“As we speak to you now, six of our members are in the prison on allegations of preach of agreement between them and their suppliers, while four others are on their sick bed”, Abubakar explained.
When asked, what would be the next line of action should the Kaduna state government fails to pay, the group said: ” we have no option than to continue begging the government to look into our plight”.
It was gathered that the initial contract agreement was N1.8 billion, while six hundred million naira were paid by the state government sometimes before the last general elections.
