The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, has said it generated a total sum of N56 billion as revenue in 2023.
Executive Vice Chairman of the commission, Prof Babatunde Irukera, disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a Strategic Media Engagement organised by FCCPC with the theme: “Reflections on the Road So Far, and Road Ahead.”
Irukera said 90 per cent of the commission’s revenue was generated from penalties imposed on erring companies and multinational conglomerates, adding that the amount was an improvement from the N5.2 billion generated in 2022.
He, however, noted that no penalty was collected without mutual conclusion reached by the affected companies and FCCPC, warning that “you can’t mistreat people and expect not to be held accountable.”
His remarks come barely a year after the Federal Government gave approval, upon the request of the agency, to have financial autonomy.
The FCCPC boss who gave a breakdown of annual budgetary allocations to the agency from 2017 to 2022, said only N796 million was voted to the commission in 2017 and N3.3 billion in 2018, N1.3 billion in 2019, N800 million in 2020, N1.8 billion in 2021 and N1.3 billion in 2022 respectively.
Recall that FCCPC became a commission in 2019 after former president Muhammadu Buhari signed into law the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, with a mandate to, among other things, promote fair business practices and safeguard the interest of consumers.
According to the FCCPC boss, in December 2022, the government approved the commission’s request to be financially independent in view of its proven ability to be self-sustaining.
Irukera noted that he assumed duty in 2017 while the agency was struggling to optimise its mandate in a market where consumer protection was not prioritised; and reforming such a market was a daunting task.
He expressed concerns over the harassment and intimidation of FCCPC staff in their line of duty as peddlers of fake products have grown violent and irresponsive to regulatory standards.
“I have spent a reasonable amount of time responding to queries and petitions. That is a distraction from the work we have been entrusted. And when institutions are distracted, the country loses,” he said.
While calling for the protection of federal institutions from people and groups who are bent on destroying them, he advised Nigerians to promptly report any consumer issue to FCCPC for prompt response and resolution, stating that the commission is not a show, but a channel created by government to resolve consumer issues.
On the issue of fare prices in the aviation sector, he said airline operators were adopting a revenue management methodology which makes their fares different.
He decried the culture of exploitation, adding that “when we exploit ourselves, it is difficult to tell others not to exploit us.”
Irukera who maintained that FCCPC has achieved a lot already, said there was still so much to do.
On digital money lending, he said the commission has degraded defamatory messages sent by loan sharks by a least 80 per cent, and that the future of digital money lending is not to stop it but a better regulated ecosystem based on experience.
