BREAKING: Unpaid contractors block Finance Minister from entering ministry amid gunshots

Operating under the aegis of ‘All Indigenous Contractors Association’, the unpaid local contractors on Monday prevented the Minister of State for Finance, Doris Uzoka-Anite from accessing the Ministry of Finance complex.

The confusion at the entrance gate of the complex led to firing of gunshots by security agents to secure the life of the female Minister, CAPITAL POST reports.

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Contractors are owed huge sums of money over projects executed in the past two years the administration of President Bola Tinubu commenced and have not been paid.

Gunshots were triggered over attempt by angry contractors to block the entrance and as the Minister waited for clearance, security agents moved to create a partway into the building, but the contractors insisted that the Minister will not be allowed.

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The protesters dared security agents to kill them, saying, “How many people government go kill ooo… how many people government go kill,” they chanted in unison.

In the ensuing melee, security agents fired gunshots into the air to scare and disperse protesters for the Minister to have her way.

Monday’s protest was a follow up of series of protests held in 2025 where the contractors accused the Federal Government of refusal to release the 2024/2025 capital budget for them to offset banks from where they borrowed funds to execute projects.

In December 2025, President Bola Tinubu set up a multi-ministerial committee with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Economy, Wale Edun as Chairman to resolve the N1.5 trillion debt owed local contractors.

Other members of the Committee are, Atiku Bagudu, minister of budget and economic planning; Tanimu Yakubu, Director-General of the budget office; Dave Umahi, minister of works; Ahmed Dangiwa, minister of housing and urban development; and Zacch Adedeji, chairman of the Nigerian Revenue Service (NRS).

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