FCCPC generates N56bn IGR in 2023, remits N22.4bn to FG
…Clampdown on digital money lenders results in significant drop in complaints
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced that it generated N56 billion as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2023 and remitted N22.4 billion to the Federal Government.
The Executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera, made this disclosure during a strategic media engagement held by the Commission in Abuja on Thursday.
He further revealed that 90 percent of the IGR was derived from penalties imposed on businesses.
Irukera emphasised the Commission’s commitment to holding businesses accountable and ensuring that there are consequences for non-compliance.
“What makes the market stable is holding businesses accountable. Consequence management system is what we have adopted.
“We are not trying to close down businesses but they must know that if you snooze, you lose.
“You cannot distort the market and expect that there will be no consequences,” he said.
Analysing the Commission’s budget since 2017, Irukera said the agency got one billion naira as budget from the government and raked an IGR of N154 million in that year.
He said the Commission got N3.3 billion, N1.3 billion as government budget in 2018 and 2019 respectively and N377 million as IGR in 2019.
The executive vice chairman said that in 2020, the Commission’s budget from the government was N887 million and it got an IGR of N864 million.
“By 2021, the government approved a budget of N1.8 billion to the Commission and the agency generated N4 billion and remitted N1.6 billion.
“As a matter of fact, what the government released from the treasury that year for the agency was N1.3 billion, so the agency gave the government more money than it got from it.
“In 2022, the government budget was N1.3 billion for the agency, the agency did not touch a single kobo of the operational or capital expense, the agency made N5.2 billion and remitted N2.6 billion,” Irukera said.
He said the Commission had since January 1, vacated the Federal Government’s budgetary provisions.
“In 2023, our IGR is N56 billion and we remitted to the government N22.4 billion.”
Irukera said the development demonstrated the possibility of the country.
He reiterated the need for companies to take responsibility and create their stand-alone complaints resolution platforms to resolve consumer related issues.
…FCCPC’s clampdown on digital money lenders results in significant drop in complaints
In the same vein, FCCPC has successfully reduced the harassment and defamatory messages sent by digital money lenders to their customers by 80 percent, according to Mr. Babatunde Irukera.
Irukera emphasised that the Commission’s goal is to completely eliminate defamatory messages and the invasion of people’s privacy, while promoting more ethical lending practices. He acknowledged that it is relatively easier to regulate digital money lending, but traditional lending methods cannot be disregarded as they fill a gap that digital lending currently covers.
He said that it was easier to proscribe digital money lending but traditional lending would not plunge the gap covered by digital lending.
Irukera said that although there were still pockets of violators, the Commission would not relent in sanitising the space.
According to him, as a regulator, ours is to understand their course and balance it against their desires.
“Some of the lenders used to tell us that when we call a borrower now, they send us your photograph and a statement by FCCPC but that is not right.
“But I tell them, tell your problems to God, my mandate is to protect consumers but I understand that we also have a mandate in protecting consumers to preserve business.
“If we allow businesses to die, it is a failed approach to consumer protection.
“Nigeria is struggling with digital lending.This is a struggle that is not isolated to us alone.
“India, Kenya, Brazil, Ghana, Uganda are still struggling in digital lending. Some of these countries are taking lessons from what we have done,” he said.
On the scorecard of the Commission, Irukera said there was still much to be done to ensure a balanced market for the protection of citizens.
“The road ahead is far more so, we will keep doubling our efforts.”
