The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has revealed that a prominent Nigerian supermarket has been inflating the prices of its imported products by as much as 500 percent.
This disclosure was made by FCCPC Vice Chairman, Tunji Bello, during a stakeholders meeting on exploitative pricing held in Abuja on Thursday.
Bello highlighted a striking example of this price inflation, noting that a fruit blender called Ninja was found on the shelf of a supermarket in Texas, United States, for $89, approximately N140,000. However, the same product was displayed at a well-known supermarket on Victoria Island, Lagos, for a staggering N944,999.
“The Commission is determined to take decisive action against price gouging, price fixing, and other unethical practices by businesses and traders in Nigeria,” Bello asserted.
He further elaborated, “We’ve observed that the profit margins on imported goods are often excessively high, and locally produced goods are similarly overpriced. This situation is particularly unacceptable in the retail sector, where we’ve identified instances of price fixing by certain market associations, along with price gouging and other anti-consumer practices.”
Bello shared another instance of the inflated pricing: “Just two days ago, our checks at a popular supermarket chain in Texas revealed that a Ninja blender was on sale for $89 (roughly N140,000). Meanwhile, the same product was being sold for N944,999 at a popular supermarket on Victoria Island, Lagos, at the same time. This is a more than 500 percent markup.”
He continued, “Interestingly, two weeks prior, our undercover officer noted that the same blender was priced at N750,000 in the same Lagos supermarket. This raises critical questions: What justifies this arbitrary price increase compared to the U.S. price? What business rationale supports such extreme profiteering?”
Bello also cited additional findings from their investigation. “In several well-known supermarkets in Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, and Lagos, we found that prices were being arbitrarily increased without any apparent justification. For example, in a major Abuja supermarket, consumers were charged N2,600 for an imported toilet soap at the checkout, despite the fact that the soap was supposed to be priced at N1,950 at a different popular supermarket in Lekki, Lagos, on the same day. This not only represents an inflated price but also violates FCCPC’s mandate for transparent pricing.”
He concluded by stating that “such practices of price fixing are no longer acceptable, and the FCCPC will rigorously enforce measures against those engaged in this profiteering scheme.”
This revelation comes amid growing concerns about the rising cost of living in Nigeria, with July’s headline and food inflation rates reaching 33.40 and 39.53 percent, respectively.
