The African Democratic Congress (ADC) said the over N500 billion owed to local contractors by the Federal Government for completed projects, showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is inventive to the plight of Nigerians.
ADC in a statement by the National Publicity Secretary Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, expressed concern to the plight of indigenous contractors who for several weeks now have occupied the headquarters of Federal Ministry of Finance with coffins, demanding to be paid for the work they have done.
“We also stand in strong solidarity with pensioners who are now threatening to march naked in protest if the Federal Government fails to pay what it owed to them in long arrears of pensions,” ADC stated.
The party noted that no serious government will allow things to deteriorate to the point where citizens would resort to coffins and naked protests before they are taken seriously.
It wondered whether the ruling party cares about the damage that its actions or inactions do to the country’s image.
The ADC expressed worry that the same government that is boasting about meeting and surpassing its revenue targets is the one responsible for this embarrassment.
“If our national finances are truly as strong as the government claims, why are contractors still owed?
“Why are pensioners still waiting for increments and palliatives that were approved more than a year ago?
“You cannot claim revenue excellence while ordinary Nigerians are drowning in unpaid debts. Something is not adding up,” ADC said.
It regretted that instead of addressing this crisis, the APC-led government was busy distributing campaign vehicles, mobilising coordinators, and building structures for 2027.
The party stated that a government that could not pay its own contractors and could not honour its obligations to pensioners has no moral right to be campaigning for another term.
“We have taken note of the untold suffering and humiliation that both the contractors and the pensioners have had to endure.
“This has to end now. The ADC is therefore prepared to march in solidarity with them if the government refuses to act immediately to address their plight,” the party stated.
