Market cartels to blame for rise in prices of food items, says consumer protection commission

By Francis Ajuonuma, and Cross Udo, with additional report

The continuous astronomical increase in prices of goods and services in the country has been blamed on the activities of cartels operating in marketplaces.

Acting Executive Vice Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Adamu Abdullahi, who made this known during an interview with Channels TV at the weekend, opined that surges in prices of goods and services do not reflect the reality of demand and supply but the creation market cartels to make more profit.

He said, “We have formed our committee at the level that we work with. We work with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. We also brought in the Ministry of Agriculture, NNPCL, and others. We look at what is happening in the market and try to see how we can make amends.

“The issue is most of the people that operate in the market have formed themselves into cartels. That’s against the law.

“These associations that say, for example, National Association of Nigeria Barbers have set a price for a haircut. Whenever you have a haircut, this is how much you’re going to pay.

“These groups are not supposed to discuss pricing. Pricing is something that should be determined by the market. From place to place, the cost of production may be different. So, the cost price in the market cannot be the same.”

Recently, the FCCPC sealed off the head office of a popular supermarket in the Garki area of Abuja, Sahad supermarket/stores, over customer extortion and lack of transparency in prices but reopened the supermarket 24 hours later.

*Tinubu sets up tripartite economic advisory c’ttee

Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu yesterday created an economic advisory committee comprising the federal government, sub-nationals, and the private sector.

This was the outcome of a parley between the President and key stakeholders at the State House, Abuja, yesterday.

Speaking at the meeting, Tinubu said the goal is to provide “additional efforts” in stabilising the economy and ensuring the “best economic future” for Nigerians.

He said, “Let’s look at what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong to bring life back to the economy. As I said, many times, the people of this country are only the people who we have to please. And we are very much concerned from students to mothers and fathers, farmers, the traders, and realising that every one of us will have to fetch water from the same well.

“We’re looking for additional efforts that might help the downtrodden Nigerians and we will provide that hope and reassurance that economic recovery is on its way.

“We are not saying that we have all the answers. But we will not be blamed for not trying. We assure Nigerians that we will do our best to get our marshal plan in place and fashion out the best economic future for this country.”

Speaking to journalists, Chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote expressed optimism that the country would bounce back from the present economic downturn.

He said, “I think we had a very, very good meeting and what we discussed is generally about the economy, food security, and security of the nation. We discussed everything in detail. And there is the economic presidential advisory committee which has been set up and I think this will look at all the issues and address them, coming from job creation, food security, coming from also reflected the economy.

“So, all these things, they have been discussed in detail. I can’t give you all the details right now, but we are hopeful and we’re a great nation. We have what it takes to turn around the economy and we’re going to do that.”

*What’s happening in foreign exchange manipulative- BUA

On his part, the Chairman of BUA Group Nigeria, Abdul Samad Rabiu, explained that the forex problem in the country is man-made, adding that the meeting took a holistic view of every situation.

According to him, “It was open, it was frank and it was exhaustive. And some of the issues we discussed for example, like the foreign exchange rate, which we know has always been the problem for the past two or three months.

“We discussed on how to bring the foreign exchange rate down because we all know that what is happening as regards the foreign exchange is artificial, it is manipulative and thank God the CBN is doing quite a lot.

“Now, the exchange rate has come down from N1800 to maybe 1600 and N1500 now, and as you all know, everything in Nigeria is indexed to the foreign exchange, especially when it comes to stuff that we import into the country.

Also speaking, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, said, “I left this meeting with a lot of enthusiasm, excitement, and optimism about the future of our country. I believe that implementing the decisions we arrived at today will propel our economy and help alleviate the poverty in the land, help create employment, and help put food on the table.”

The Anambra State governor, Prof Charles Soludo said despite the current challenges in the country, those at the meeting have what it takes to put the economy back.

He said, “It’s a tripartite meeting designed to put heads together and think together. We have one national economy, and it’s the responsibility of the 225 million Nigerians to work together to make it great we have all the potential and we have all that it takes to make Nigeria ride through these turbulent times and put the economy back on a sustainable keel.

“I think there is unity of purpose, determination, the sense of patriotism and determination by all to make it happen, and by the special grace of God, it’s now the execution, execution. And this is a standing committee that will be meeting from time to time to evaluate how things are going and make recommendations to Mr. President and the nation as well.”

The Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, said, “As a Governor, I can assure you that all hands on deck. All governors have resolved to join hands with Mr President to ensure that he provides the necessary intervention to cushion the effect of what we’re going through, whilst we are waiting for the implementation and the evidence of the fiscal and monetary policies that are already in place.

“So the teeming public should have that confidence that we’re not leaving them alone. In my state and other states, we are bringing in rice, we’re bringing food items, and were selling at rates that can be obtained before the downslide of the naira.

“So we are going to be doing all those kinds of things to bring succour to the common man until when you begin to see the evidence of the fiscal and monetary policies.

Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, Director-General of of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, said, “So I think the private sector is looking forward to the implementation of most of the decisions that we have made with the president.

“Manufacturers are looking forward to an environment that is conducive to business. And so the issues surrounding foreign exchange, insecurity, and general operating environment were discussed and we received the assurances of Mr. President that very soon we are going to start to see some major changes and I think the advisory committee that has been formed, the private sector will play a very significant role, and Nigerians, going forward should be hopeful that we are having solutions to the challenges that we have.”