FCCPC launches nationwide market investigation over high food prices

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, is currently conducting investigations across the country to uncover the reasons for the high cost of food prices in Nigerian markets.

This is to enable the commission to provide suggestions to the federal government on how to address the ongoing food crisis.

The Head of the FCCPC, Lagos Office, Suzzy Onwuka, recently led a team of investigators to engage with marketers and traders’ associations in Lagos State to understand the reasons behind the ongoing increase in food prices.

Similarly, in Rivers State, the FCCPC, under the guidance of its South-South Zonal Coordinator, Uchegbu Chukwuma, also conducted fact-finding sessions with traders’ associations and marketers to identify the factors contributing to the continuous rise in food prices.

In Lagos, the fact-finding investigation at the Mile 12 International Perishable Market and the Oke-Odo Market in Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA was described by Onwuka as a mission to collect firsthand information from key sources and stakeholders. This included engaging with market union leaders, sellers, and consumers in these significant food markets.

Advertisement

A statement from the FCCPC yesterday, reads: “FCCPC’s surveillance efforts suggest that participants in the food chain and distribution sector, including wholesalers and retailers, are allegedly engaged in conspiracy, price gauging, hoarding and other unfair tactics to restrict or distort competition in the market, restrict the supply of food, manipulate and inflate the price of food indiscriminately.

“These obnoxious, unscrupulous, exploitative practices are illegal under the FCCPA.

“Following this exercise, the commission would develop a concise report of its inquiry and make recommendations to the government in accordance with Section 17(b) of the FCCPA and initiate broad-based policies and review economic activities in Nigeria to identify and address anti-competitive, anti-consumer protection and restrictive practices to make markets more competitive while also ensuring fair pricing for consumers.”