▪︎Dr Muda Yusuf, CEO of CPPE
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprises (CPPE) says that the core mandate of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is not to fight inflation.
Dr Muda Yusuf, the CEO of CPPE, made the assertion while reacting to the threat by the FCCPC to traverse markets across the country with objective of forcing traders, supermarkets owners, market men and women to reduce the prices of essential food items.
Dr Yusuf said: “The fiscal and monetary authorities are statutorily responsible for macroeconomic policy issues and are better placed to deal with the challenge of high prices.
” The FCCPC appears to be unwittingly transforming into a price control agency rather than a consumer protection commission.
The disproportionate focus of the commission on the retail segment of the economy and pricing issues underscores this assertion.
The core mandate of the commission is the creation of a robust competition framework across sectors and protection of consumer rights and interests. Consumer protection is not about directly seeking to control price at the retail end of the supply chain.
This is why the CPPE is concerned about the approach, methodology, targeting and the recent threats by the FCCPC to market leaders, traders and supermarket owners.”
He told journalists in Lagos that the commission seems to be fighting the symptoms rather than dealing with the causes of the current inflationary pressure in the economy.