Acting executive vice chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Dr Adamu Abdullahi has called on Nigerians to be patient with the present administration over the high cost of food items.
He said the government is worried about the high prices of foodstuffs in the country.
Abdullahi said the government is even exploring options to cushion the effect and bring it to an end as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has named Mr Tunji Bello as the new boss of FCCPC.
Dr Abdullahi stated this while responding to questions filed by journalists when he visited the Galadima market and the Dawanau grains market in Kano on a fact-finding market survey.
He said part of the president’s renewed hope agenda is to ensure that Nigerians get a better deal that will make them depend on and believe in the government making life meaningful. However, the reality differs from what the government bargains for, hence the fact-finding and market survey.
He said, “The federal government is concerned about the plight of the masses, especially about the prices of food items. Food is an essential commodity because you have to eat before anything else, and once the people haven’t eaten, the government cannot sleep.
“Part of the organisation’s mandate is to come and examine what is responsible, and we have visited markets in all the country’s zones. We have found out some of the challenges and have gotten a lot of takeaways. We would advise the government appropriately to ensure that the prices of goods come down.”
The acting EVC further explained that some of the issues raised by the traders’ associations in the markets visited include insecurity, the high cost of transportation, farmers now having an interest in farming cash crops rather than food crops like hibiscus and beniseed, mopping farm produce from farmers at a fair price, and importation of food items to meet a shortage of supply, among others.
Abdullahi, however, restated that, as a body, they will continue to ensure fair market practices, devoid of cartels and price fixing by associations, and remove all impediments to the free market in the country.
