By Moses Uwagbale
Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has started a probe into price gouging in an effort to protect and ensure that consumers were not cheated.
The Director General of FCCPC , Mr Babatunde Irukera, said in Abuja that the findings would also unravel the state of products and whether companies and retailers were selling standard or substandard commodities to the consumers.
He explained that the commission was also looking into a bunch of other competition issues.
“For instance, we have got a large competition investigation going on in the flour industry to see if price manipulation is occurring there.
“Flour is very stable and is the base for a lot of things. Bakers are threatened to increase the price of bread by 60 per cent.
“We had to have a meeting with the association to address the question of whether, at association level, you can coordinate and unilaterally decide on prices; if it is a violation of law or not.”
The Director General said the commission also had a meeting with market associations in Onitsha to sensitise them to basic hygiene products like hand sanitiser and face masks as well as their fair pricing.
“We will continue to do the best we can; we are encouraging Nigerians to always demand for their rights and insist.
“And when their rights are still not respected, the regulator is here and we will do whatever we can,” Irukera said.
