Some local contractors on Monday protested ‘unpaid benefits’ at the Ministry of Finance in Abuja.

The contractors said that in spite of verification of their contracts by the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), which recommends the settlement of contracts within the threshold of one to N10 million, the Ministry of Finance is yet to commence payment.

Officials of the Ministry of Finance met with the representatives during the protest on Monday.

After the meeting, Publicity Secretary of the Local Contractors of Nigeria, Roland Dandi, said the ministry officials asked for about two weeks to begin to settle the debt.

“They said they have concluded the last section of the verification and are now ready to pay,” he said.

“We pray that we are going to be alive till that time. We will give them three weeks. After that and our monies are not paid, Nigeria will see us in a different, drastic step, much more than we have done today.”