The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) sealed off Sahad Stores, a well-known supermarket in the Area 11 Garki area of Abuja yesterday.
The store, known for competitive prices, has branches in Abuja, Jigawa, Bauchi, Nasarawa and Kano but only one of its two branches in the Federal Capital Territory was raided by the commission.
Department stores and supermarkets in the country are being forced to constantly review prices of goods on the shelves over rising inflation, leading to a food crisis in the country.
The federal government has blamed the rising cost of food on hoarding with President Bola Tinubu directing security agencies to tackle factors responsible for food crisis, including hoarders and speculators.
The management of Sahad Stores was accused of charging prices other than the official price tags on their shelves.
Before the raid LEADERSHIP Weekend had earlier visited some department stores over the fluctuating prices of some goods.
At 4U, a popular store in Wuse 2, price tags of many consumer goods had been removed and when LEADERSHIP Weekend enquired why, a salesperson who spoke in confidence said the store realised they were selling many items at a loss.
The management, he said, was working on coming up with the appropriate prices for many imported products.
The government itself had in a matter of weeks raised the customs exchange rate for the clearing cargoes no less than five times since December 2023.
At Sahad Stores, the FCCPC enforcement team was led by acting executive vice chairman of the commission, Adamu Ahmed Abdullahi.
Briefing journalists thereafter, Abdullahi said the commission’s preliminary investigation confirmed that the owners of the supermarket were short-changing customers.
There was no report that FCCPC obtained a court order before shutting down the store.
Abdullahi said the store would remain sealed until the completion of the further investigation.
“What we have found out is that what these people are doing is misleading and lack of transparency in 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 N100 million or even more and the directors of the company themselves are liable upon conviction to payment of N10 million 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 they 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,” FCCPC boss stated.
This came after the federal government in collaboration with state governors agreed to set up a committee to tackle hoarding of produce and other essential commodities in the country following unprecedented prevailing food inflation.
