{"id":169549,"date":"2025-07-15T09:47:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/streetlight-contractors-protest-unpaid-payments"},"modified":"2025-07-15T09:47:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T08:47:00","slug":"streetlight-contractors-protest-unpaid-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/policy\/streetlight-contractors-protest-unpaid-payments","title":{"rendered":"Streetlight contractors protest unpaid payments"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>A group of contractors in Anambra State who supplied gas for use in generators for powering streetlights across the state have staged a peaceful protest to the Government House, Awka.<\/p>\n<p>Their protest was over the alleged refusal of the state government to pay outstanding debts amounting to about N900 million for diesel supplied in March and April of 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The contractors, who converged on the Government House in Awka, accused the government of making selective payments, alleging that while a few contractors had been settled, many others were being unfairly sidelined without any explanation.<\/p>\n<p>Carrying placards with inscriptions such as \u201cSelective payment is injustice,\u201d the protesters said they had exhausted all official channels to seek redress without any meaningful response from the authorities.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during the protest, their leader, Hon. Nnaemeka Oraka, claimed that some of their colleagues had died out of frustration since 2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are 72 contractors, but only seven have been paid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t understand the criteria for this selective payment. We followed due process and executed legitimate jobs for the government. Yet, we\u2019ve been abandoned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe funded these supplies from our pockets. It was like giving the government a loan. We have families, we owe banks, and some of us have lost everything. Some of our members have even died due to the stress.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said several letters had been written to relevant government agencies to no avail, adding that the protest was a last resort.<\/p>\n<p>The aggrieved contractors, many of them members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), declared their continued support for the party and Governor Chukwuma Soludo\u2019s reelection project, but lamented that the unpaid debts had pushed their families into hardship.<\/p>\n<p>The protesters, including both men and women, marched from Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square to the New Government House.<\/p>\n<p>Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr Ernest Ezeajughi, who received the protesters, commended them for being peaceful in the protest, assuring them that the government was not insensitive to their plight.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to assure you that your concerns have been heard. His Excellency is committed to resolving this issue. Your matter has moved to another table from the last time you visited, for attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will resolve your case amicably after a review,\u201d Ezeajughi said.<\/p>\n<p>He asked the contractors to nominate three or four representatives for a follow-up meeting aimed at reaching an amicable resolution.<\/p>\n<p>While the contractors welcomed the assurance, they said they would continue to press for full payment if no concrete action is taken soon.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\">Nigeria<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. A group of contractors in Anambra State who supplied gas for use in generators for powering streetlights across the state have staged a peaceful protest to the Government House, Awka. Their protest was over the alleged refusal of the state government to pay outstanding debts amounting to about N900 million for diesel [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":169548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[1570,2140,254],"class_list":["post-169549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-nigeria-2","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Streetlight contractors protest unpaid payments - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/streetlight-contractors-protest-unpaid-payments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Streetlight contractors protest unpaid payments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. A group of contractors in Anambra State who supplied gas for use in generators for powering streetlights across the state have staged a peaceful protest to the Government House, Awka. 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A group of contractors in Anambra State who supplied gas for use in generators for powering streetlights across the state have staged a peaceful protest to the Government House, Awka. 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