Works Ministry dismisses claims of payments to contractors by Dec 20
The Ministry of Works has dismissed claims that its Minister, Sen. (Engr.) David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE has assured all contractors of payment by 20th December, 2025.
In a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja in reaction to the report making the round in some media, the Ministry’s Director, Press and Public Relations, Mohammed A. Ahmed, dismissed the claims, emphasizing that the Minister of Works is not in charge of the payments of contractors.
The statement read: “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Works has been drawn to a distortion of information in the media, especially Channels Television, where it was alluded that the Minister of Works, Sen. (Engr.) David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE said that all local contractors will be paid by 20th December, 2025.
“Let it be on record that the Minister of Works does not speak for the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, who is in charge of all payments to contractors handling Federal Government projects.
“However, the true position of facts is that the Minister of Works on Thursday, 4th December, 2025, while inspecting ongoing works on the three (3) Sections of the Mararraba-Keffi Expressway, which are some of the NNPC Tax Credit projects taken over by the Ministry in terms of funding, commended the contractors for the excellent work and assured them that after verification by the Independent Corruption and other Related Practices Commission (ICPC), the Ministry, through the Ministry of Finance, will commence the payment of all generated certificates before the 20th of December, 2025”.
According to the statement, the Minister also appealed to contractors handling such projects not to stop work in any part of the country.
The Ministry stated that in as much as the Federal Government is making concerted efforts to pay most of the verified inherited debts, it is not in a position to set a deadline for payment nor to speak on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.
“The media is hereby invited to correct such misinformation,” Ahmed emphasized.