Kelvin Bowoto
Following President Bola Tinubu’s directive to security agents to combat the causes of the country’s food crisis by cracking down on hoarders and speculators, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) sealed off a well-known supermarket in Abuja’s Area 11 Garki area on Friday.
The management of Sahad Store Supermarket was accused of defrauding customers by charging prices higher than the official price tag on their shelves.
The FCCPC enforcement team was directed by Adamu Ahmed Abdullahi, the agency’s acting executive vice chair.
Briefing journalists afterward, Abdullahi stated that the commission’s preliminary inquiry indicated that the supermarket’s owners were shortchanging customers.
He stated that the store would be sealed until the additional inquiry was completed.
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“What we discovered is that these persons are engaging in misleading pricing and a lack of transparency in pricing, which violates Section 115(3) of the legislation, stating that a consumer is not obliged to pay a higher price for any commodity or service than the one shown.
“Section 155 stipulates that any corporate person who violates is responsible for a fine of 100 million naira or more, and the directors of the firm itself are liable upon conviction for a punishment of 10 million naira or six months’ imprisonment, or both.
“What we have done today is ensure that they follow the law. We initially summoned them to come and defend themselves, but they failed to appear. In the end, they dispatched a lawyer, and we asked him if he was aware of the circumstances of the case. He claimed he wasn’t.
“To unseal the store, they have to make sure that they do what is required to be done,” the executive director of the FCCPC said.
This comes after the Federal Government, in partnership with state governors, agreed to form a committee to address the issue of produce hoarding and other important commodities in the country due to historic food inflation.
Techrectory with Agency Report.
