Celebrities
FCCPC probes sharp practices by importers, sellers of generators
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) says it has discovered anti-free market practices such as price-fixing being perpetrated by importers and sellers of generating sets in Nigeria.
Babatunde Irukera, chief executive officer (CEO), FCCPC, said this in an interview on Arise TV at the weekend.
He said through intelligence gathering, FCCPC also saw that some of the companies were equally shortchanging the government in payment of duties for imported spare parts.
Irukera said some of the companies importing and selling generators took “undue advantage” of the opportunity provided by government through exemption of duty payment on imported completely knocked down parts (CKDs) intended to boost alternative energy and increase affordability of alternative power sources for consumers.
The FCCPC boss explained that the policy is part of the government’s efforts to address power generation, transmission and distribution deficits in the country for the people to access supply at an affordable price.
“The least that a society should experience is that the candle doesn’t burn from both ends and is not shortchanged even with respect to the cost of providing alternative power, typically referred to as renewable energy,” he said.
“So, we got credible intelligence that in the generator sector, there were a few things that were going wrong.
“Number one, in order to address generation, transmission and distribution deficits, one of the things the government has done is to relax certain rules with getting your alternative power.
“One of them is reducing or even eliminating duties with respect to CKDs to build a generator and so, most generator importers bring in these CKDs and then assemble.
“That does two things: The lack of duties makes it more affordable for consumers, and then, it also promotes local industry in the sense that, at least, it brings the value-adding process to be done domestically, which is the assembling.”
On the alleged price fixing by the companies, Irukera explained that the council also discovered that there was some level of coordination where some companies were talking with themselves and agreeing by signaling on how the prices moved.
“So, with all that information that we had, we presented that to the judge of the federal high court and when the judge was convinced, the judge issued a search warrant, an order for us to execute and that’s what we did.
“We executed a search warrant simultaneously on multiple operators in the industry at the end of last year.
“Usually, an investigation of this nature takes quite a while because you now have to start slicing the information that you have got.
“Certain terabytes of information was downloaded from their computers, their emails and telephones and so, we are analysing that information”.
‘WE CANNOT FULLY RESOLVE COMPLAINTS OF BANK CUSTOMERS’
Irukera also said the enactment of the Bank and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 has limited the council’s powers over the Nigerian banking industry, especially in dealing with complaints by customers.
The FCCPC boss explained that the law excluded the FCCPC act from the banking industry.
This, according to Irukera, meant that the oversight work that FCCPC does with resolving complaints in financial institutions became limited.
“So, essentially, the real statutory platform for resolving banking complaints is now the central bank exclusively,” he said.
“However, because banking constitutes the second largest complaints we receive, what we have done at the FCCPC is to continue to do the work in the banking sector based on an understanding that withdrawing that channel would absolutely be chaotic.
“And so, we’re struggling with having the statutory tools to deal with the banking sector as we used to.
“And one of the results of this is that we don’t have the visibility that we would have to be able to contribute to policy and execution of policy in a way that would truly and fully capture what we know based on our experience in dealing with banking customers and what we understand the landscape of the industry to be.”
The FCCPC boss, however, added that the commission does work with banks by getting them to acknowledge what issues they may have with customers.
“But what FCCPC can do based on the limitation on the statutory instrument is to at least get the banks to address what the issue is,” he said.
“With respect to the question on penalties, the kind of statutory power to penalise inappropriate conduct is still questionable.”
Celebrities
Plantashun Boiz attempted reunions failed because I wasn’t invited, says Blackface
Blackface, the Nigerian dancehall singer, says Plantashun Boiz, a defunct music group, multiple attempts to reunite failed because he was not included.
Formed in 2000 with 2Baba and Faze, Plantashun Boiz disbanded in 2004 but briefly reunited in 2007 for an album.
In a recent episode of the ‘Curiosity Made Me Ask’ podcast, the host asked Blackface if there was any chance that the group might come back together.
The singer disclosed that his colleagues had attempted to reunite without him but were unsuccessful.
“Without me, they have tried and they have failed. Many times. You saw them in all those shows that they were going,” he said.
“They tried but they failed. But what I must say is I’m the plantation. So let it be known. Forget the fake memo that they spread before.”
In September, Blackface called for the reunion of the defunct music group.
He urged fans to join the mission, emphasising that “unity is strength, not division”.
“My people oya make una talk put mouth for this matter! We are on a mission for world peace and it’s not a small-time thing,” he said in pidgin English.
Since 2015, Blackface constantly tackled 2Baba for recording 2004 hit ‘African Queen’ which he claimed he wrote.
In 2017, he argued that 2Baba “sabotaged” his career in the music industry.
Celebrities
Despite feud, Peter Okoye celebrates Paul on 43rd birthday
Peter ‘Mr P’ Okoye, the Nigerian singer, has celebrated Paul ‘Rudeboy’ Okoye, his twin brother, on their 43rd birthday amid their ongoing feud.
The twin brothers have been in the public eyes since their second fallout in August.
They had their first rift in 2017 which led to the dissolution of Psquare, their music brand. Though they reunited in November 2021, their reconciliation was short-lived.
Paul recently revealed another fallout, accusing Peter of orchestrating his arrest by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Peter, however, denied the allegations and accused Jude Okoye, their older brother, of diverting millions of dollars from their joint account into a secret company.
Responding to the accusations, Jude said he had done everything possible, even “sacrificing himself,” to mend the rift between his brothers.
In an Instagram post on Monday, Peter shared several photos showcasing their growth over the years.
He also celebrated their birthday while wishing himself as well as his twin brother more wins.
Celebrities
Tiwa Savage calls out Wizkid fan for bullying
Wizkid’s group of fans collectively known as “Wizkid FC” are popular for their vehement support for Wizkid and their antagonism toward those considered his rivals.
Tiwa Savage is the latest artist to call out Wizkid FC for harassment after some members of the fanbase mocked her for releasing a song on the same day as Wizkid.
On November 15, 2024, Ruger released his new song ‘Toma Toma’ featuring Tiwa Savage which she shared on her Instagram page with the caption “Told yall this one is special. The @rugerofficial called and I answered”.
In response, a Wizkid fan said “Dey play, nothing special pass Wizzy hits”.
The reply rubbed off wrongly on Tiwa Savage who said “Because I am promoting music? WTF…y’all are not fans anymore ooo you guys are actual bullies”.
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