The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has revealed that a well-known supermarket in Nigeria is marking up the prices of its imported goods by as much as 500 percent.
Tunji Bello, the Vice Chairman of FCCPC, made this
announcement during a stakeholders meeting focused on exploitative pricing in
Abuja on Thursday.
He provided an example of a Ninja fruit blender, which is
priced at $89 (approximately N140,000) in a Texas supermarket, but is being
sold for N944,999 in a popular supermarket located in Victoria Island, Lagos
State.
Bello emphasized that the Commission is committed to
implementing stringent measures to combat price gouging, price fixing, and
other unethical practices by businesses and traders in Nigeria.
He noted that there is often a significant disparity in the
pricing of imported goods, and locally produced items are frequently overpriced
as well.
This situation is particularly concerning in the retail
sector, where patterns of price fixing by certain market associations and other
anti-consumer behaviors have been identified.
For instance, a recent inspection at a major supermarket
chain in Texas confirmed the Ninja blender's price of $89, while the same item
was listed at N944,999 in Lagos at the same time.
This represents an increase of over 500 percent. Bello
further pointed out that an undercover officer had observed the same blender
priced at N750,000 just two weeks prior, raising questions about the rationale
behind such arbitrary price increases compared to the U.S. market and the
business principles that could possibly justify this level of profit-making.
It may be pertinent to highlight additional troubling
findings from our investigation.
During discreet surveys conducted in notable supermarkets
across Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Lagos, we observed that prices were
frequently increased without any valid justification.
For example, in a prominent supermarket in Abuja, customers
were charged N2,600 for an imported toilet soap at checkout, despite the
absence of a price tag as previously required by the FCCPC.
On the same day, a well-known supermarket in Lekki, Lagos,
offered the same product for N1,950, which constitutes a clear violation.
He stressed that such price manipulation is unacceptable,
and the FCCPC will take decisive action against those participating in this
profiteering practice.
This situation arises as Nigerians face increasing
challenges due to the rising cost of living, with headline and food inflation
rates reaching 33.40 and 39.53 percent, respectively, in July.