Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has refuted claims in some quarters that the Commission is going beyond its mandate to regulate prices in the marketplace in Nigeria.

While denying this claim in a statement by Ondaje Ijagwu, the Director of Special Duties, FCCPC said;  “Our mandate is to safeguard consumers from unfair and deceptive practices and to ensure robust competition across all sectors.

“We categorically assert that prices in a competitive marketplace are determined solely by the forces of supply and demand. Price control is entirely outside the scope of our responsibilities.

“We have never considered, nor will we ever consider, intervening in the market to regulate prices. Any claims to the contrary are baseless and unfounded. Our recent directives are not about controlling prices but are focused on curbing exploitative practices and anti-competitive behaviours that distort the marketplace and harm consumers”.

The FCCPC therefore “appreciates the feedback provided by the Organised Private Sector and other interested parties regarding our recent directive to businesses to cease price gouging, price fixing, and other exploitative practices. We value this dialogue and wish to clarify our position.

“Price gouging is an unfair practice that takes advantage of crises or economic hardships to inflate prices arbitrarily, while price fixing occurs when competitors or market associations, without their own products, collude to set prices”.