FG has a duty to control prices of commodities – Falana

*‘Price increase not sign of good economy’ – Respondent

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

“In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, if you buy a commodity for SR50 ten years ago, you are most possibly still going to find it that same price this year 2024, 10 years after. What I bought SR130 at Naira equivalent of N13,000 in City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia in 2019 is still SR130 now but to the Naira, N39,000. What is the problem with us in Nigeria particularly in Southern Nigeria?” He asked.

The Nigerian government has a duty to intervene decisively on behalf of the majority of the people by enforcing price control mechanisms that protect citizens from exploitation as envisaged under the Price Control Act.

This is the view of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, who believes that this is necessary to guarantee that the economy of the country is not concentrated in the hands of a few.

According to a report published on the website of Channels Television, Falana spoke against the background of his recent lawsuit against the Federal Government over failure to control rising prices of essential commodities.

“The Bola Tinubu administration has said that there is food in abundance in Nigeria. I think the Minister of Information made that statement a couple of days ago, but we have a situation where majority of the people cannot afford the prices that have gone to the roof.

“And so that is why the government has a duty under the Price Control Act to control the price of essential commodities so that Nigerians will not be subjected to hunger unnecessarily. It is so bad now that if you pick a food item, if you go back to the market tomorrow, the price has gone up,” Falana said.

He argued that while affluent citizens can cope with spiralling inflation, most ordinary Nigerians have been priced out of accessing basic commodities under the current laissez-faire regime. Hence, the urgent need for government’s intervention based on extant laws.

The Senior Advocate also questioned why electricity tariffs, telecom rates and petrol pump price could be moderated via subsidies whilst other essentials like food, medicines and diesel were allowed to rise astronomically thereby eroding people’s purchasing power.

The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, on Wednesday, ordered the Federal Government to fix the price of goods and petroleum products within seven days from today.

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa granted the order sequel to an originating motion filed and argued by the applicant, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana.

Falana had dragged the Price Control Board and the Attorney General of the Federation, both of whom are listed as defendants before the court to determine “whether by virtue of Section 4 (1) of the Price Control Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, the first defendant is carrying out its duty to impose a price on any goods that are of the kind specified in the First Schedule to the Price Control Act.”

In an affidavit in support of the summons taken out by the Senior Advocate and deposed to by a legal practitioner from his firm, Taiwo Olawanle, the deponent noted that the following commodities: bicycles and its spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and its spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit and kerosene are listed in the Price Control Act.

He also noted that the Act gives the Price Control Board powers to fix the prices of this wide array of commodities.

‘Price increase not sign of good economy’

In the meantime, The DEFENDER gathered from some ordinary Nigerians who are asking questions as to why economists or financial analysts in the country think market prices increase all the times is sign of good economy.

A respondent, who spoke under condition of anonymity, argued that it cannot be correct to say that by hiking prices of commodity a society is moving forward and he cited examples from other country other than the West, whose capitalist economy he believes is copied by Nigeria and which has plunged not only the country but even the source of system – West world – in quagmire.

“In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, if you buy a commodity for SR50 ten years ago, you are most possibly still going to find it that same price this year 2024, 10 years after. What I bought SR130 at Naira equivalent of N13,000 in City of Makkah, Saudi Arabia in 2019 is still SR130 now but to the Naira, N39,000. What is the problem with us in Nigeria particularly in Southern Nigeria? Yes, because things are not like this in Northern Nigeria before now when the whole place has been polluted by bad governance. Why are we problem to the country and yet we always find a tribal and religious reason to blame for our self-afflicted woes?” He asked.

He continued, “A Retired Army Major General once talked about how not to allow economy of Lagos State upon which economies of other states in Nigeria depend to be left in the hands of hoodlums and mediocre. Did we listen? This is Lagos where thugs hoodlums who are in charge of transportation sector and market centres decide transport fairs at will and we have state government leaders, who are charged by the Constitution to govern but who have allowed those hoodlums to govern in their stead thus causing hardship for the people they are charged to be responsible for.

“We have been saying these a long time ago when for mere reason of fuel pump price from N65 to N70 transporter whose bus plies Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway would charge increase his fare from N50 to N150 and government of Lagos State would do nothing about that. For them not to hear new minimum wage, market women from the warehouse to the retailing table increase price of essential commodity from N65 to N200 and government in the state did nothing. Now is the peak of the consequences of the conspiracy of silence of those days.

“I can therefore agree with Mr. Femi Falana saying that he is right. Most of the hardships we had before May 29, 2023 when Tinubu came were caused from Lagos and now that Tinubu is President of the country, he should have known and he should begin to do something about controlling the prices. Thank God, Falana, the Federal Government he now governs has a duty to do so, let him stand up and do it,” he said.