Nigeria approves payments to 1,240 contractors, 700bn naira

The Federal Government has approved payments to more than 1,240 contractors, a move officials say is intended to provide immediate liquidity support to businesses and settle longstanding verified debts. The announcement, made by the Federal Ministry of Finance on Monday, June 8, 2026, came as a group of contractors staged a protest at the ministry's headquarters in Abuja, disputing government claims about the scale and timeliness of disbursements.

According to the ministry, the approvals were granted by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, following a verification and reconciliation process. Officials stated that contractors with validated claims of 100 million naira or less were prioritized in this latest batch. The ministry said the release of funds is expected to enable businesses to return to project sites, pay workers, and settle suppliers.

The ministry further disclosed that over the past few months, the government has processed payments exceeding 700 billion naira across various categories of verified obligations to local contractors, with approximately 436.6 billion naira processed in May alone. It described the initiative as...