By Stanley Onyekwere
The Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Hon. Christopher Zakka Maikalangu has reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to pay all outstanding liabilities owned to contractors who has so far completed various contracts awarded by the immediate past administration of the council.
The Chairman gave this commitment while addressing aggrieved contractors who are yet to be paid for jobs executed for the past administration.
Maikalangu, who appealed to the contractors to exercise patience, however, revealed that despite the challenges of funding, the administration has paid one month salary owned by immediately past administration.
In a statement from the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Public Affairs to the AMAC Chairman, Kingsley Madaki, yesterday, the Chairman who hinged the delay in payments to dwindling internal revenue generation and expected funds from the federal government, also expressed optimism that the contractors would be paid as soon as possible.
According to him :”It will be unfair for your money to be tied down somewhere for number of years. As you all know this is a new administration. I resumed office on the 14th of June 2022, so I felt that we should invite all the contractors owned by the previous administration so we can know ourselves. You have worked for the council and you deserve your payment.
“But also I want you to have it at the back of your mind that very soon we will call you on a proper inspection of all the projects you said you have have completed. We are going focused on projects that has reached 100 percent completion.
“Let the truth be told we may not pay all. Don’t expect us to perform magic from us, because all the necessary findings must be done before any payment. Most of the debt is traced to 2016 to 2019. Government is a continuous we want to assure you that we will gradually pay it.
“We are making serious efforts in ensuring that we get the expected funds from the federal government, and we are also ensuring that we up-scale our Internal Revenue Generation (IGR) to enable us offset our liabilities. I want to assure you that all our contractors will be paid soon”.
While thanking the Chairman on his promises to offset the debt owned by the previous administration, Engr. Bello Shafiw, the Managing Director of Christal Love and Tina Nigeria Ltd, said the audience given by the new council Chairman was a huge step in the right direction.
“With this kind of Chairman in the leadership of the council, the residents should be rest assured that things will work well for good. We didn’t expect to call us or have any interest in paying a debt he didn’t acquire.
“Most of us have lost hope since, but with this assurance we have gotten here today our hope is revived already. Some of us are being owed for years after the completion of jobs.
“We have been asking and nobody answered us but thank God for the answer we have gotten from this present administration”, he said.
