A day after President Bola Tinubu met with governors in Abuja to find solutions to the biting food crisis in Nigeria, a federal government agency, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) took action on Friday February 16 to close Sahad Store, a prominent supermarket in the Garki area of Abuja.
FCCPC alleged the supermarket was indulging in sharp practices and ripping its customers by inflating prices of items at payment point higher than the price tags on display on the shelves.
FCCPC Acting Executive Vice Chairman, Adamu Ahmed Abdullahi who headed the enforcement and addressing the media afterwards, said the commission’s initial investigation confirmed the supermarket’s practice of shortchanging customers. He said the store would have to remain sealed until a thorough investigation is completed.
“What we have found out that these people are doing is misleading pricing and lack of transparency in the pricing, which is against Section 115 (3) of the law that says a consumer is not required to pay a price for any good or service higher than the one that’s on display.
“Section 155 states that any corporate person that contravenes is liable to a fine of 100 million naira or even more and the directors of the company themselves are liable upon conviction payment of 10 million naira each or imprisonment of six months or both.
“What we have done today is to make sure that they comply with the law. We initially called them to come and defend themselves but failed to show up. In the long run, they sent a lawyer whom we asked if he was familiar with the facts of the case. He said he wasn’t. To unseal the store, they have to make sure that they do what is required to be done,” said Abdullahi.
In the President’s meeting with the state governors and ministers yesterday, they agreed food hoarding and artificial price inflation were partly responsible for high food prices. They resolved on setting up a special committee, working collaboratively with security agencies and the governors to develop and implement strategies to ensure food availability, control prices, and prevent unjust enrichment through hoarding.
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