FCCPC Alleges Conspiracy Among Traders to Exploit Consumers, Issues Moratorium

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has accused traders in Nigeria of conspiring to exploit consumers by inflating the prices of goods and services. The newly appointed Executive Vice Chairman of the FCCPC, Mr. Tunji Bello, raised this concern during a stakeholders’ engagement on exploitative pricing held in Abuja on Thursday.

Bello cited an example where a fruit blender, known as Ninja, was priced at $89 (approximately ₦140,000) in a Texas supermarket but was being sold for ₦944,999 at a supermarket in Victoria Island, Lagos. He questioned the justification for such a significant price difference, attributing it to unwholesome practices like price fixing, which threaten the economy’s stability.

The FCCPC has given a one-month moratorium to traders and market stakeholders involved in these exploitative practices to reduce prices or face enforcement actions. Bello emphasized that while the current approach is not punitive, the commission will begin firm enforcement after the moratorium.

Stakeholders at the engagement pointed to factors such as high transportation costs, insecurity, multiple taxation, and increased charges on imported goods at the ports as reasons for the continuous rise in prices. They appealed for government intervention to address these issues, with some suggesting that the FCCPC set up a task force and involve trade associations in its enforcement activities.