As House Committee on Commerce Pays Oversight Visit to FCCPC, Lauds Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Babatunde Irukera for Ongoing Reforms at the Commission.
There is no denying the fact that the role of various regulatory bodies in Nigeria’s economy and their responsibilities to stakeholders and society at large has become a major topic of debate.
However, not much is comparatively said about the business activity of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) which through the Acts that established it offers an important part of a reliable market economy. While “buyer beware” was once the motto of the free market, FCCPC, particularly under Mr. Babatunde Irukera has been helping to keep sellers honest, with no threat of unpleasant surprises.
Irukera with House committee on commerce during oversight visit to FCCPC.
Babatunde Irukera “ Reform is in the making. It may be slow, even tedious, but one day at a time, the landscape for accountability in the marketplace is changing.”
At the core of the foregoing view point is how the activities been carried out by the FCCPC is touching every sector of the economy, and in turn imparting on the lives of the people who are invariably consumers of diverse brands and services.
The commission which has unarguably been exerting its responsibilities in virtually every sector of the economy, and by that virtue been urging players in the sector to be prioritising responsiveness to consumers, and reminding operators of industries that they are under obligation to improve on their responsiveness to consumer’s complaints and dissatisfaction at any point in time and anywhere.
To those that are following the activities being carried out by the Commission’s leadership under Mr. Babatunde Irukera, its activities in the power sector where it says electricity topped its 2021 consumer related complaints chart just like in 2020, cannot be denied.
Also gaining FCCPC’s interventionist role, is the Banking and Finance Sector, where Irukera in December last year disclosed that complaints received from the sector were second on the chart.
Our role is to protect your business. But there is an objective in protecting your business. It is for the consumer to have choice and fairer pricing… The entire purpose of competition is choice, quality, price.
Babatunde Irukera
EVC, FCCPC; while receiving the member, House of Representative, Committee on Commerce.
To any eagle-eyed observer, the point Irukera is leading the regulatory body to cannot be farfetched as he hinted during a recent interactive parley with Journalists that, “We need to get to a point where businesses recognise their obligations and understand that responsiveness is an important fundamental in business activities. It is not right that the commission even as a government agency is easier to access and is more responsive to consumers that are dissatisfied than companies.”
Not only is the commission under Irukera’s leadership reforming the consumer protection landscape through intensified efforts in consumer education, there have equally been legal victorious legal moves made by the commission on behalf of consumers in the recent time.
There is no denying the fact that efforts been made by the leadership of FCCPC toward the reformation of the sector was recently so obvious and perceptible that Irukera has to express his joy two court decisions pronounced in favour of the Commission, and to a large extent the consumers.
Irukera excited said, “Reform is in the making. It may be slow, even tedious, but one day at a time, the landscape for accountability in the marketplace is changing.
Without doubt, it cannot be less agreed that as long as Irukera and his team continue to reform the consumer protection landscape, particularly within the provision of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) that he will continue to cross great milestone particularly as witnessed in the last few weeks.
Against the foregoing background there is no denying the fact that he and his team have adapted a great deal of the Act, and articulated good preparation to, as engagements been demonstrated are setting the right tone.