Convicted service providers, sellers, manufacturers of substandard products risk minimum of N1m fine — Osi, FCCPC Coordinator, South-South 

Mr. Johnson Osi, is the Acting Coordinator Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), South-South Zone. In this interview with Barth Ndubuwah, he bares his mind on a number of issues, including complaints received by the Zone in 2021, achievements recorded and challenges facing the Commission in the South-South Zone, among others. According the him, the Commission is poised to upholding consumers’ rights in Nigeria, but challenged with funding. Mentioning that the Commission is not conditioned to condone crime or fraud, support from private organisations, well spirited individuals, and NGOs would go a long way in the fight of consumers’ right protection championed by the Commission. Excerpts:

Can you throw light into how FCCPC South-South Zone, fared in the last year, 2021, in terms of complaints received and achievements recorded?

We thank God, the last year was a good year, though a trying year as well.

We received a lot of complaints in the South-South Zone, especially in the Electricity subsector. There were so many issues of over-billing. We intervened and ensured that consumers were billed what they actually consumed.

We equally recommended sanctions for consumers who were involved in power theft or bypass. We don’t condone crime or fraud. We also recovered some appliances like television sets and phones, where consumers bought products and they went bad within the warranty period. Such products were replaced through our intervention. The records are there, we are not just theorising. Even bank charges were corrected and consumers were refunded accordingly. There was a case where a consumer bought some drugs and discovered that the drugs have expired. We intervened and the money was refunded, over N700,000. There was this issue where the seller or service provider claimed he did not manufacture the product, but only bought it from manufacturers like that. We had always told such sellers that at the point of purchase, they ought to have told the manufacturer or distributor that the product must be of high standard, otherwise we hold the seller responsible.

When FCCPC comes in, we hold the seller responsible for buying and stocking substandard products in his store. The only window we give to a seller is if he takes us to the manufacturer or distributor, then we will leave him and hold the manufacturer responsible. Otherwise, we hold the seller responsible and he must refund the money collected from the consumer.

On Funding

The only challenge we have is finance, funding has been poor. For instance, we need to be on air regularly to sensitise the consumers on our activities, but for poor funding, this has not taken shape. We thank Nigerian Info, their staff have been helping in enlightening the public on our activities. We urge others to join them. There was this issue of a man who bought drugs and found out that the drugs were fake or substandard; we intervened and the money, over N1million, was refunded. Even for some funny landlords who collect money from tenants and refuse to pay when the tenant is transferred, we insist that the landlords refund such money. For such, we only remove administrative cost, which is about one percent. If they refuse, we go to court.

Have you made any move to secure partnership with private organisations or companies to ease your operations?

Yes, we have spoken to several organisations for partnership. Some are already partnering with us – like Stakeholders Democratic Network (SDN), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), and Master Bakers Association, among others. We are not asking for money, just provide us with logistics or organise a meeting – our own is just to come and talk. The reason is that we want to go to all the 23 local government areas in Rivers State and sensitise consumers on their rights and the activities of FCCPC. The idea is to sanitise the system and make consumers have the best of the products they buy.

How is your relationship with the Rivers State Governnment?

Our relationship with the Rivers State Governnment is cordial. In fact, we are supposed to be working with the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. We have even discussed with the Commissioner for Water Resources on how to sanitise that sector. Although not much has come out of the discussion yet, we are talking and hopefully the discussions would yield the desired result.

Was there any case where you had to prosecute any offender?

Yes! We have some cases ongoing at the courts. What we do in such case is to recommend to our Headquarters for prosecution.

What are your challenges in the course of your work?

Our major challenge has been finance – our funding has been poor. That is why we are calling on private organisations, NGOs or even public spirited individuals to assist us. We are not asking for money, but logistics to enable us reach out to the 23 local government areas of Rivers State. They can even organise meetings and invite us to come and talk to sensitise the consumers on their rights, as well as the activities of FCCPC. That is why we continue to thank Nigerian Info, their staff have been helping us in their programmes to inform the public on the activities of FCCPC. We urge others to follow suit. There is also this NGO, Stakeholders Democratic Network (SDN): They have been helping us. What they do is to organise town hall meetings and invite us to come and sensitise the people.

What is your final message to consumers and sellers alike?

My message to consumers is to always report to us any case of substandard or fake product they buy from any seller or service provider. We have always told people that any product that does not have warranty should be tolerated. A product must be able to serve a consumer for a reasonable period of time from the time of purchase. Otherwise, we insist that the product be replaced or the money refunded. One of the responsibilities of a seller is to remove products about to expire from his shelf within one month to the Best Before (BB) date. For consumers, they have to be careful when buying a product. They should check the manufacture and expiration dates before purchasing such products. We equally advise the consumers to report to FCCPC when they see anybody producing unwholesome products for prompt action. So, FCCPC is doing its best in the South-South Zone within its limited resources. The Commission can do better with your support. The Act that established FCCPC has given us so much power; our minimum fine for convicted offenders is  N1m.