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CPC vows to curb consumer rights abuses

The Director General, Consumer Protection Council Nigeria (CPC), Dr. Dupe Atoki, has declared that the council will curb consumer rights abuses in the country by forcing the major companies to comply with international standards.

Noting that the telecoms, aviation, banking and power sectors have the highest level of consumer rights abuses, she said the CPC has adopted major strategies of enforcing consumer rights and ensuring company’s compliance with the council’s enabling laws.

These strategies, she said, are sectoral intervention, litigation and improving the visibility of the council by using new methods and the redress of consumer complaints. These strategies, she said, are already yielding positive results.

Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, the CPC boss said that a successful intervention in the activities of usually the dominant player in a given sector resonates into a bandwagon compliance and block adherence to regulation and best practice.

Atoki explained that “Sectoral intervention was identified as a major strategy for the evaluation of business operations under the various sectors in order to arrest identified adverse trends and thereby resolve individual complaints in the long run.”

She explained that this strategy is intended to focus on a sector by undertaking in-depth analysis of consumer complaints and total evaluation of business practices to identify systemic irregularities.

She noted, albeit happily, at the lecture entitled “The state of consumer rights protection in Nigeria”, that the council has already carried out successful major interventions in the food and beverage and aviation sectors which modified the behaviours of all the other players in those sectors for best practices.

In order to enforce consumer rights, she said that CPC also has the strategy of criminal prosecution of recalcitrant businesses or litigation to achieve satisfactory redress, which is already paying dividends.

Acknowledging the low awareness of consumer rights in the country, Mrs. Atoki said that the council was undertaking different measures to ensure increased knowledge of consumer rights and responsibilities.

These measures, she noted, are hosting of consumer roundtable on phone rights, publication of a compendium of the rights of telecom subscribers, launch of ‘Check the Best Before Date’ campaign.

Other measures, according to her, are revamping and updating the council’s website on a regular basis, using of social media to interact with consumers and establishing a strong media presence with a view to remaining in the consciousness of consumers.

Lamenting the wanton gross consumer rights abuses also in sectors such as satellite television, land transport, property, hospitality, food and beverage, home appliances, automobile and electronic commerce, the council’s boss regretted that “while free market is currently operational in Nigeria, all forms of consumer abuse still pervade virtually every sector of the economy denying consumers their rights.

Highlighting the abuses, she said that in the telecom sector, for instance, “consumers still contend with drop calls, unsolicited texts, calls, poor network, credit wipe off, amongst others, while consumers in the aviation sector experience regular delays and cancellation of flights without notice, damage and loss of baggage without compensation etcetera.”

In the banking sector, she said consumers experience ATM dispense error cases with prolonged resolution period, POS terminal issues, unexplained debit on consumer accounts. Equally, in the power sector, “consumers complain of outrageous estimated billings, non-provision of transformers, metres, wrongful disconnections and inadequate electricity supply.”

In the satellite television sector, she regretted that consumers were also struggling with regular disruptions, wrongful connections, poor service delivery and lack of redress for complaints. “Overloading, non refund of money when vehicles breakdown and use of dilapidated vehicles add to the burden of consumers of public transport services,” noted Atoki.

Similarly, Dr. Dupe Atoki lamented that “In the property sector, developers fail to keep to agreement terms, tie down consumers’ deposits for prolonged period and sometimes deliver substandard houses to consumers.”

Consumers under the hospitality sector were identified as not free from the abuses as “many hotels fail to live up to their claims/required standard, while vendors of holiday packages do not deliver on promises made.” Food and beverages industry are also guilty, said the DG, as foreign substances in drinks, sale of expired products, adulteration, improper storage, short measure, etcetera are rampant in the sector.

“Undiscerning consumers go home with substandard home appliances while non adherence to warranty by car dealers, sale of substandard spare parts, unqualified mechanics and ill-equipped workshops result in safety issues and loss of consumers hard earned money,” bemoaned the DG.

In the electronic commerce, the council’s DG lamented that the infringements of consumers’ rights here were completely unfair and potentially dangerous to the consumer. She said some of these abuses in this sector were unsolicited commercial communications and unfair use of personal information.

However, while the agency is cognisant of its challenges and having evolved some strategies to deliver on its mandate within available means, Mrs. Atoki still stressed that several factors were militating against the council’s bid to effectively protect the over 160 million consumers across all sectors of the economy whose rights are wantonly abused.

According to the DG, these factors are “perceived overlapping duties of regulatory agencies, impunity of business-peddling of influence, protection of self-interest by trade associations, lack of consumer awareness and apathy, inadequate funding, inadequate spread, understaffing and dearth of specialised staff, gaps in the CPC Act.”

Underscoring the point, Atoki said “Market failures violate consumer’s rights and inhibit their welfare in the marketplace. Impunity of businesses, rivalry among regulatory bodies due to seeming overlapping functions and protection of self interest by trade associations are part of the challenges inhibiting the effective protection of Nigerian consumers.”

Nonetheless, she asserted that genuine businesses must comply with regulations and specified standards for goods and services in the country adding that the political might of the federal government must be available to support the council at all times to put recalcitrant businesses in check.

She urged regulatory agencies to collaborate with each other in order to foster seamless relationship in the regulation of businesses to ensure effective protection of consumers.

“The council recognises the need for aggressive consumer awareness campaign. However, consumers should be more aggressive, proactive and disposed to complaining when dissatisfied with a product or service,” adding that mere grumble is not an option.

April 5, 2015
CPC alerts consumers to dangers of unhealthy foods

T HE Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has embarked on a campaign to alert consumers to the dangers of eating unhealthy foods.

It said this was part of its activities to mark this year’s World Consumer Rights Day .This year’s event had as theme, Consumers’ right to healthy foods.

The Consumer International celebrates World Consumer Rights Day yearly to promote consumer rights, protest market abuses and social injustice meted out to consumers, and places a demand on business operators that consumer rights should be respected.

The CPC said it was drawing the attention of consumers to the health risks in consuming unhealthy foods, which are low in fibre, vitamins, high on fats, salt, sugar and tropical oils and are of little or no nutritional value.

At a briefing, Head, Lagos Office of CPC, Mr. Tam Tamunokonbia, said: “As you all know, a consumer is anyone who buys or uses any product or service. Since there is none that does not buy or use products and services, we all are consumers. It is the consumers’ rights to buy and use healthy foods and that is what we intend to focus on this year.’’

He explained that the CPC chose to sensitise consumers on consumption of healthy foods in schools, churches, mosques and other public places to educate Nigerians on their salt and sugar intake. “We intend to enlighten Nigerians on the dangers of consuming unhealthy foods,” he said.

Tamunokonbia noted that in most cases, such unhealthy foods lack the necessary vitamins obtainable from fruits and vegetables. He saidunfortunately, these junks or unhealthy foods when taken regularly, cause diet-related diseases, such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases-all leading to premature deaths.

As part of the campaign, he said the Lagos Office of CPC was at two Churches, St. Leo’s Catholic Church, Ikeja, and the Foursquare Gospel Church, OPIC Estate, Lagos, to sensitse the members.

According to him, members of both churches were astonished at the revelations by the council. “This is expected to continue throughout the year,” he said.

Tamunokonbia said a follow-up to the “Walk for health” by the Council in Abuja, the Lagos Office and other Zonal Offices participated in the “Walk for Health programme” from Ilupeju to Oshodi to Ikeja through Maryland, Ikorodu and back to the Council’s Office.

Meanwhile, talks have been carried out by various senior and junior secondary schools across Lagos, and a few others are scheduled to take place shortly. In addition, interviews and spotlight programmes are expected to run on radio, television and in national newspapers.

“It is expected that the tempo will be sustained and extended to eateries, supermarkets, restaurants and market places through the year,” Tamunokonbia said.

As part of the sensitisation, CPC has also begun an advocacy for the adoption of a consumer-friendly labelling for beverages and food products in the country.

Its Director-General, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, said in Abuja.

She asked for a change in the nutritional information put at the back of these products, which, she said, was incomprehensible.

“The CPC is advocating that manufacturers adopt the consumer friendly ‘traffic light’ nutritional labelling as it is very simple for consumers to read and understand at first glance,” Atoki said, noting that “most consumers lack the skill or time to interpret detailed nutritional information on the back of the package.”

The DG noted that the Council was using the opportunity of the celebration to sensitise consumers to make informed decision on what they purchase and consume, adding that there was also the need for them to check the labelling of these products, as well as for the manufacturers to adopt best practices in line with the council’s mandate.

April 1, 2015
CPC vows to curb consumer rights abuses

The Director General, Consumer Protection Council Nigeria (CPC), Dr. Dupe Atoki, has declared that the council will curb consumer rights abuses in the country by forcing the major companies to comply with international standards.

Noting that the telecoms, aviation, banking and power sectors have the highest level of consumer rights abuses, she said the CPC has adopted major strategies of enforcing consumer rights and ensuring company’s compliance with the council’s enabling laws.

These strategies, she said, are sectoral intervention, litigation and improving the visibility of the council by using new methods and the redress of consumer complaints. These strategies, she said, are already yielding positive results.

Speaking at a public lecture organised by the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, the CPC boss said that a successful intervention in the activities of usually the dominant player in a given sector resonates into a bandwagon compliance and block adherence to regulation and best practice.

Atoki explained that “Sectoral intervention was identified as a major strategy for the evaluation of business operations under the various sectors in order to arrest identified adverse trends and thereby resolve individual complaints in the long run.”

She explained that this strategy is intended to focus on a sector by undertaking in-depth analysis of consumer complaints and total evaluation of business practices to identify systemic irregularities.

She noted, albeit happily, at the lecture entitled “The state of consumer rights protection in Nigeria”, that the council has already carried out successful major interventions in the food and beverage and aviation sectors which modified the behaviours of all the other players in those sectors for best practices.

In order to enforce consumer rights, she said that CPC also has the strategy of criminal prosecution of recalcitrant businesses or litigation to achieve satisfactory redress, which is already paying dividends.

Acknowledging the low awareness of consumer rights in the country, Mrs. Atoki said that the council was undertaking different measures to ensure increased knowledge of consumer rights and responsibilities.

These measures, she noted, are hosting of consumer roundtable on phone rights, publication of a compendium of the rights of telecom subscribers, launch of ‘Check the Best Before Date’ campaign.

Other measures, according to her, are revamping and updating the council’s website on a regular basis, using of social media to interact with consumers and establishing a strong media presence with a view to remaining in the consciousness of consumers.

Lamenting the wanton gross consumer rights abuses also in sectors such as satellite television, land transport, property, hospitality, food and beverage, home appliances, automobile and electronic commerce, the council’s boss regretted that “while free market is currently operational in Nigeria, all forms of consumer abuse still pervade virtually every sector of the economy denying consumers their rights.

Highlighting the abuses, she said that in the telecom sector, for instance, “consumers still contend with drop calls, unsolicited texts, calls, poor network, credit wipe off, amongst others, while consumers in the aviation sector experience regular delays and cancellation of flights without notice, damage and loss of baggage without compensation etcetera.”

In the banking sector, she said consumers experience ATM dispense error cases with prolonged resolution period, POS terminal issues, unexplained debit on consumer accounts. Equally, in the power sector, “consumers complain of outrageous estimated billings, non-provision of transformers, metres, wrongful disconnections and inadequate electricity supply.”

In the satellite television sector, she regretted that consumers were also struggling with regular disruptions, wrongful connections, poor service delivery and lack of redress for complaints. “Overloading, non refund of money when vehicles breakdown and use of dilapidated vehicles add to the burden of consumers of public transport services,” noted Atoki.

Similarly, Dr. Dupe Atoki lamented that “In the property sector, developers fail to keep to agreement terms, tie down consumers’ deposits for prolonged period and sometimes deliver substandard houses to consumers.”

Consumers under the hospitality sector were identified as not free from the abuses as “many hotels fail to live up to their claims/required standard, while vendors of holiday packages do not deliver on promises made.” Food and beverages industry are also guilty, said the DG, as foreign substances in drinks, sale of expired products, adulteration, improper storage, short measure, etcetera are rampant in the sector.

“Undiscerning consumers go home with substandard home appliances while non adherence to warranty by car dealers, sale of substandard spare parts, unqualified mechanics and ill-equipped workshops result in safety issues and loss of consumers hard earned money,” bemoaned the DG.

In the electronic commerce, the council’s DG lamented that the infringements of consumers’ rights here were completely unfair and potentially dangerous to the consumer. She said some of these abuses in this sector were unsolicited commercial communications and unfair use of personal information.

However, while the agency is cognisant of its challenges and having evolved some strategies to deliver on its mandate within available means, Mrs. Atoki still stressed that several factors were militating against the council’s bid to effectively protect the over 160 million consumers across all sectors of the economy whose rights are wantonly abused.

According to the DG, these factors are “perceived overlapping duties of regulatory agencies, impunity of business-peddling of influence, protection of self-interest by trade associations, lack of consumer awareness and apathy, inadequate funding, inadequate spread, understaffing and dearth of specialised staff, gaps in the CPC Act.”

Underscoring the point, Atoki said “Market failures violate consumer’s rights and inhibit their welfare in the marketplace. Impunity of businesses, rivalry among regulatory bodies due to seeming overlapping functions and protection of self interest by trade associations are part of the challenges inhibiting the effective protection of Nigerian consumers.”

Nonetheless, she asserted that genuine businesses must comply with regulations and specified standards for goods and services in the country adding that the political might of the federal government must be available to support the council at all times to put recalcitrant businesses in check.

She urged regulatory agencies to collaborate with each other in order to foster seamless relationship in the regulation of businesses to ensure effective protection of consumers.

“The council recognises the need for aggressive consumer awareness campaign. However, consumers should be more aggressive, proactive and disposed to complaining when dissatisfied with a product or service,” adding that mere grumble is not an option.

March 29, 2015
CPC decries high rate of consumer rights abuse

The Director-General, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Mrs. Dupe Atoki, has decried the high rate of consumer rights abuses in the telecoms, aviation, banking and power sectors of the economy.

Mrs Atoki said the prevalence of consumer abuses in different sectors of the economy had resulted in a situation where consumers no longer get value for their money, noting that the Council had adopted the strategy of criminal prosecution of recalcitrant businesses or litigation to achieve redress.

She spoke yesterday in Lagos, at a public lecture on The state of consumer rights protection in Nigeria, organised by the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.

She said: “In Nigeria, market failures manifest in different ways with varying degrees of negative impact on consumers. While the free market is operational in Nigeria, consumer abuses still pervade every sector of the economy, denying consumers their rights.

“For instance, in the telecommunications sector, consumers still contend with drop calls, unsolicited texts/calls, poor network and credit wipe-off, while in the aviation sector, regular delays/cancellation of flights without notice, damage/loss of baggage without compensation, still occur.

“In the banking sector, there are regular cases of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) dispense error cases with prolonged resolution period; Point of Sales (PoS) terminal issues; and unexplained debit on customer accounts among others. Similarly, in the power sector, outrageous estimated billing, non-provision of transformers/meters, wrongful disconnections and inadequate/erratic electricity supply contribute to consumers’ frustrations.”

Atoki noted that consumers of satellite television services were also grappling with regular disruptions, wrongful disconnection, poor service delivery and lack of redress for complaints.

She added: “In the area of land transportation, overloading, non-refund of money when vehicles breakdown and use of dilapidated vehicles add to the burden of consumers of public transport services. In the property and real estate sector, developers still fail to keep to agreement terms, tie down consumers’ deposits for prolonged period and sometimes deliver substandard houses to consumers. In the hospitality industry, many hotels fail to live up to their claims/required standard, while vendors of holiday packages do not deliver on promises made.

“Also, in the food and beverage industry, cases of foreign substances in drinks, sale of expired products, adulteration and improper storage are rampant. The non-adherence to warranty/guarantee by car dealers, sale of substandard spare parts, unqualified mechanics and ill-equipped workshops result in safety issues and loss of consumers’ hard earned money, while the sale of substandard home appliances to undiscerning consumers result in repeat purchases and exposure to unnecessary hazards.”

However, the CPC chief said that the agency had begun the implementation of far-reaching strategic initiatives and sectoral interventions in order to enhance the protection of consumers’ rights across the country.

March 24, 2015
CPC tackles unhealthy foods, advertisements

As consumer organisations all over the world continue to celebrate World Consumer Rights Day, which came up last Sunday, the federal government has been called upon to come up with statutory regulations to discourage unhealthy foods and their advertisements.

The call was made by the Consumer Protection Council, Lagos, during a symposium in Lagos to mark the consumer day.

The theme for this year’s Consumer Day celebration has been aptly titled ‘Consumer’s Right to Healthy Foods’ as Consumer International, the umbrella body of over 220 consumer federations and organisations, seeks ways to inculcate healthy eating habits into people’s life style.

The international organisation, of which Nigeria is a member, noted that unhealthy diets have been linked to four of the ten biggest causes of death in the world.

According to their reports, “unhealthy diet is linked to obesity, high blood pressure, high glucose and high cholesterol. Obesity alone is estimated to cost the world $2 trillion annually.”

Recent reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) also stated that while the global obesity figure stood at 1.6 billion in 2005, about 2.3 billion adults are likely to be overweight this year.

Other health implications, experts warned, include arteries destruction when unhealthy fast foods are consumed over a long time. Junk foods also deplete energy. They reduce immunity to fight disease. The additives used in making most fast foods to enhance appearance, taste, flavours and texture are mostly dangerous in the body.

In Nigeria, the Consumer Protection Council of Nigeria kicked off the event on Friday, March 13th, with a presentation on consumers’ right to healthy foods in some selected mosques and Sunday, March 15th made presentations on the same topic in various churches.

For instance, while top officials of the CPC Lagos office were at Saint Leo’s Catholic Church Ikeja and the Foursquare Gospel Church, OPIC Estate, Lagos, the Director General of the council, Dr. Dupe Atoki, spoke on the need for healthy foods at another church in, Abuja.

Thereafter, there was the Walk for Health to create awareness, undertaken by the staff of CPC zonal offices including the head office on Monday, March 16th. This was then followed up by sensitisation talks in various schools like the Lagos Progressive Senior and Junior Secondary Schools, Surulere.

The CPC Lagos office is also poised to visit more schools such as the Community Senior and Junior High Schools, Surulere, Ilupeju Senior Secondary School Oshodi, Ilupeju Junior Secondary School Oshodi, Sunnyside Schools Ilupeju and Penman College Ilupeju.

Speaking with the CPC Lagos Head, Mr. Tam Tamunokonbia, last week after the Walk for Health programme in his office, he said that government should take deliberate steps to support the agencies assigned to protect the consumers to carry effective awareness programmes and come up with statutory regulations to discourage unhealthy foods and their advertisements.

Lamenting the absence of effective regulations, he said that there is no standard labelling or packaging guidelines to determine what most eateries in Nigeria dish out to consumers.

“Nutrition labelling on pre- packaged foods appears to be the trend, Nigeria cannot afford to be otherwise. Such labelling educates the consumers and fulfils his rights to both education and information.”

The CPC Lagos Head also called on the food and beverage industry operatives to regulate their operations by maintaining health standards in their kitchens or factories by reducing their sugar, salt and addictive contents in their foods and drinks.

“They also need to reduce their advertisement appeal, especially to children,” regretting that self regulation has not worked because of profit motive.

However, he observed that self regulation and nutrition labelling cannot work in the absence of effective government statutory regulation. “Where the laws are silent, regulations should be enacted to meet the needs of consumers.”

Emphasising that the CPC, NAFDAC, and SON are already protecting consumers in the food and drink industry, he urged them to collaborate to protect the consumers not only in asserting his rights but in protecting him from the clutches of manufacturers and vendors of unhealthy, unsafe fast and junk foods.

Also speaking at a one-day symposium organised in Lagos by brand journalists to mark the World Consumer Day, Mr. Tamunokonbia noted that unhealthy food intake will ultimately deplete the national work force.

Speaking at the symposium which seeks to unravel the ‘Implications of Unhealthy Food intake to National Development’, he argued that every nation develops with its human resources. “A nation that allows its generation of youths to be hacked down by unhealthy food-related diseases will soon run out of its work force to produce its wealth,” adding that “Health is Wealth”.

Furthermore, he said that the majority of those who survive the ailments will hardly have enough strength to produce for the nation.

The tradition of setting aside March 15th every year to celebrate the consumer can be traced to that date in 1962 when John F. Kennedy, then American President, addressed the parliament on Consumer Bill of Rights.

March 22, 2015
CPC supports Alomo Bitters’ new look

Last week, at the launch of the hologram of the popular Alomo Bitters drink in Lagos, the Consumer Protection Council head Lagos Office; Mr. Tam Tamunokombia commended the producers of Alomo Bitters for rising up to the challenge of protecting consumers. He said CPC is charged by the federal government with the responsibility of attending to consumers complaints, protecting them from activities of importers and manufacturers of substandard products, as well as counterfeiters of existing ones.

He added that consumers have a right to basic satisfaction and if this is not achieved, they have a right to complain. “At CPC, it is not only about fighting counterfeit products, we are more particular about those items consumers take into their body system.”

At the launch, producers of the alcoholic bitters assured consumers that this bold step of protecting the authenticity of the product will not increase the price of the drink in any way.

Expressing confidence in the Halogram , the Marketing Manager, Kasapreko Company Nigeria Limited, producers of Alomo Bitters, Mr. Peter Adegor said, if in any case, counterfeit occurs, the company will stay ahead of the game and beat the counterfeiters to it. “We are the only one who has the authority of this hologram, others do not have it. We are here to protect our consumers who are our source of business and that is why we have come up with this security features, the ‘Halogram’. We are confident that ours is the most secured Hologram in the world,” he said.

The introduction of the hologram seal on the caps is one of the initiatives by the company to checkmate criminal faking of Alomo Bitters by unscrupulous profiteers and to protect consumers against the consumption of substandard bitters products which endanger human life.

Managing Director, Kasapreko Company Nigeria Limited, Mr. Kojo Nunoo said: “This initiative is a security standard for global brands, and essentially it is meant to ensure clear brand differentiation and to highlight the unique features that distinguish ‘Alomo Bitters’ from the imitated version and other substandard bitters products in the market,”.

He added that criminal faking of the original Alomo Bitters has been a major challenge the brand is facing in the country. And as a company that places priority on the wellbeing of consumers, this bothers the producers a lot. Hence the launch of the new hologram is aimed at helping the consumers identify the authentic drink when making purchases.’’

The brand, which happens to be a generic name for bitters generally, is 100per cent herbal from plant extract. According to the producers, it will be produced in non-alcoholic form next year.

For marketing professionals, the drink is said to have become a case study.

Special Adviser (Commerce and Industry) to the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Seye Oladejo, commended Kasapreko, for taking another bold step in consumer protection. He stated that the dangers of consuming counterfeit and substandard products were numerous among which were ill health and loss of life.

He said: “Since Alomo Bitters has a big market share in Nigeria, it is important to also start manufacturing the brand here. The Lagos State Government is developing large Agro–Industrial Parks in Imota Ikorodu and Ilara, Igbo-nla Epe to provide the much needed support for companies like Kasapreko to manufacture here in Lagos.

March 6, 2015
Making the consumer king

Consumer Protection Council’s rift with Coca-Cola as litmus test

After a three-week vacation, and one in which I deliberately decided to rest my column, one should return pregnant with issues to deliver, especially given the flurry of political developments within the period. True, I was tempted not to suspend the column during my vacation in view of the (then) pending primaries of the major political parties, the most talked-about being those of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), which threw up the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan and General Muhammadu Buhari, respectively, as contenders for the presidency.

Gen. Buhari’s emergence has no doubt altered the political calculations, especially in the PDP which had probably hoped that the result of the APC primaries would be different. Anyway, this is not a matter for today. The issue is still evolving and I intend to leave it for now. Next year is going to be loaded politically and one needs to reserve one’s energy so as not to dissipate it on rehearsal when the real dance is yet to come.

I want to devote this piece to an issue that I had kept postponing since it began early in the year to attend to what appeared to me to be the real burning issues, national or international. But, I have to break that jinx today because the matter is also a burning issue in its own right; first because of the lives of the millions involved and also because of its wider implication for protecting public watchdogs in the country.

It is the issue between the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and two big players in Nigeria’s food and beverage sector, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited (CCNL) and its franchise bottler, Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd. The CPC had, following a complaint by a consumer that he bought two half-filled cans of Sprite, one of the products produced by the companies, issued an order on the companies in February, 2014, with specific timelines for compliance. This was sequel to an investigation which spanned over five months and entailed factory inspections, written and oral representations and analysis of evidence, pursuant to the consumer complaint. Eventually, the council fined the companies N100m, which they are contesting in court. For me, the fact that this has been challenged in court is a good development.

It is true that Nigeria needs investors, but I detest this impression that these foreign companies are doing Nigerians a favour by operating here. It is true that our operating environment is not that business friendly but this should not be an excuse for people to give us subhuman treatment. Some people even wonder about the big deal in having half-filled cans of a beverage. It is difficult to blame such people given where we are coming from. The point is, we have been so dehumanised that we do not even know that we have rights as human beings. How many people here, for instance, know that there is something called ‘consumer product recall’ in which millions of defective products are withdrawn from the market in order to protect the consumer? In civilised climes where this occurs, the overriding consideration is not the loss to the companies but the health and safety of the citizens and consumers. These big companies know all these and more; they know how they are forced to shell out huge sums in compensation over some of the things we consider non-issues here.

In the specific Sprite case, key findings of the investigation revealed that the cans of the soft drink were defective, that the companies neither had a written shelf-life policy for their products nor an implementation plan outlining practical steps for the implementation of the companies’ first in first out (FIFO) rule. The investigation also revealed that the companies’ grievance resolution policy does not properly address compensation for injury or compensation in instances where replacement will be inadequate.

It is only if we want to deceive ourselves that we would pretend that these defects are not there, not only with Coca-Cola products but with many other producers’ as well. We have had cases of people who saw cockroaches in bottles of their soft drinks. We have had cases of people reporting other particles in the drinks. Some of these are easily detectable if the drinks are not coloured; but detection is difficult in instances where they are, as one might even have started to consume the content before seeing the strange objects. This could be the handiwork of some competitors in situations of unhealthy rivalries in which producers of similar product try to outdo one another. It could also be the result of laxity in quality control from the manufacturers. Whichever it is, it is not good for the consumers. And this is why governments all over the world create agencies to monitor manufacturers to ensure that they produce products to standard.

On a personal, Coca-Cola is my favourite soft drink and it is likely to remain so until I find a better alternative. But I have also had cause to complain to the woman selling it on our premises on not less than two occasions that the taste of the product was different from the usual one. As a matter of fact, the usual gas released when the bottles are opened was conspicuously missing on all occasions that I experienced such. She would always ask me to come for replacement but I never did.

I know that ignorance is no excuse in law; but I must confess that much as I am usually particular about the expiry dates of most other items I buy, including milk, butter and margarine, it never occurred to me that soft drinks have a shelf life-span. And if at my level I do not know, I wonder the millions of Nigerians who suffer such ignorance. But then, it is hard to blame anyone for this as not much emphasis is placed on the producers inscribing the expiry dates conspicuously on their bottles as do the manufacturers of drugs, cosmetics, etc. I think they are just beginning to do that. I guess too that I am part of the problem because I had always kept the defects in the product to myself and the retailer. But again, there is a limit to how far you can push such a case once the drink has been opened. You need all the angels in heaven swearing in order to prove that you are not trying to play a fast one on the company so as to make some quick money.

The point is that the CPC needs the support of all in its bid to ensure that sanity is brought to bear on the beverage sector and in other sectors where it has jurisdiction. It is good that the Federal Government has waded into the matter by dragging the soft drinks companies and their chief executives to court for alleged criminal breach of Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Act. Early in the year, the council ordered the management of Aero Contractors Company of Nigeria Limited to compensate 39 passengers on its flight AJ132 of November 8, 2013 who were abandoned at the Abuja International Airport and left stranded overnight. Aero Contractor Airlines was ordered to pay N41, 000 each to the passengers, bringing the total fine to N1.599million. Such an agency is not likely to be popular with the corporate players it is supposed to regulate their activities in our kind of environment where many other public watchdogs are compromised.

Although the practice of not wanting to abide by global standards is common even among many Nigerian companies, it is particularly worrisome that multinationals that should know better are in the forefront of this. What is particularly perplexing is that some of them even have different standards for the Nigerian market and do all kinds of things which they dare not in their home countries or even in some other African countries here apparently because no one cares about anything in Nigeria, or at least so they think. That is why they would have the temerity to threaten to have removed any chief executive of a supervisory agency who is not prepared to play ball with them. There is no way the consumer will ever wear his crown as king if we continue to tolerate such nonsense.

Thank you all

I was away for just three weeks but some of my readers made it look like I had been off duty for far longer the way they kept asking what happened. I guess that was because I proceeded on the vacation unannounced in the first week. Thank God I am back. I am particularly grateful to Simon Oladapo, a regular reader of this column who got married on December13. He was the first person who called to find out what the matter was.

I thank you all and wish you a happy New Year in advance.

December 28, 2014
CPC, Coca-Cola and limits of reason
I have a strong fascination for Nigerian proverbs, and it increases every time I have had cause to explore the deeper meaning and the life lessons encoded in each one of those wise, witty sayings. But, as the full weight of a proverb is better felt in its native language, much of the impact of these proverbs often get lost in translation.

Have you heard this one: “You have pulled the trigger, why chase after the bullet?” I heard it long ago from an elderly manwho was admonishing a younger groom. The latter, obviously a conceited bully, was adamant on sending his wife packing for allegedly challenging his authority in public, even after the poor lady and his own parents had tired of explaining her action and begging for forgiveness.

That proverb is a subtle admonition usually to an aggrieved person who has begun to react beyond the limits of reason or is unwilling to let go, even after his point is made. In other words, it says “You’ve made your point, don’t insist on a needless or foolish course to assuage your ego”.

This wise counsel comes to my mind each time I read another of the unending twist in the unnecessary and unfortunate media blitz on the court case involving the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and Coca-Cola and its bottling partner, NBC over “two short-filled cans of Sprite”. I normally do not like soap operas or anything resembling them. However, I have followed these obviously orchestrated media reports on CPC and Coca-Cola/NBCbecause it involves big business and a regulator.

It seems to me that on this particular issue, someone pulled the trigger and has been chasing after the bullet to guide it aright.I do not wish to be a bore by rehashing the background details; there is already enough online. Just in case you are late to the party, here is a summary: CPC investigated a consumer complaint in late 2013 involving two short-filled cans of Sprite during which it claimed to have found that Coca-Cola and its bottling partner, NBC did not have processes for quality assurance, product traceability and consumer complaints resolution.

Consequently, the council directed the two companies to, among other measures, subject their production processes to its inspection for 12 months and to pay within seven days a sum of N100,050,000 broken down as follows: N40 million as civil penalties, N60 million as cost of CPC’s investigations and N50,000 as compensation to the consumer/complainant. The two companies disagreed with the CPC’s investigation report and the attendant orders and therefore applied to the courts for judicial review of the orders. But CPC reported the matter to the Attorney General of the Federation, who slammed criminal charges on the two companies and their CEOs, alleging failure to comply with the CPC orders.

So, which party pulled the trigger and is nowchasing after the bullet? Every right thinking person in our society ought to be glad that the CPC is standing up for our orphaned consumers and is taking big business to task in defense of the consumer. If, indeed, Coca-Cola and NBC have a poorer quality standard in our country and are deliberately short-changing consumers through “short-filling” their packages as the CPC seems to have alleged, then the full weight of the law must be brought to bear on both companies. But, more importantly, the processes for arriving at this very weighty conclusion and its consequence management must be such that would in the end portray CPC and the Nigerian government as acting within both the law and the limits of reason.

In my view, this does not seem to be the case and the CPC is unwittingly pulling the rug from its own feet through its ill-advised chase of the bullet, as its actions in almost every angle of this case appears excessive, if not precipitate. In the first instance, I hope that the agency has adequate technical capacity to investigate a food production facility and, if not, that it collaborated with sister agencies like NAFDAC and Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to arrive at the conclusion that Coca-Cola’s production processes lacked effective quality assurance, as this is not a mean indictment for a company of Coca-Cola’s pedigree.

No less a commentator than Simon Kolawole in his back page piece in the November 31, 2014 edition of Thisday on Sunday described the whopping sum of N100,050,000 that CPC imposed on Coca-Cola and NBC as “daylight robbery”. It cannot be better said. Also interesting is that CPC apportioned the lion’s share of N60million to itself as cost of the investigation and another N40 million as civil penalties, whereas the poor consumer/complainant whose cause CPC is supposed to be fighting gets a paltry N50,000 or 0.05% of the booty. Truly a “daylight robbery”!

CPC also appears to have been less tactful with the profuse manner it has used the media on the issue. From the press conference it hurried convened in Lagos in February where it showcased its investigation report hot from the press, to the clearly orchestrated same-day media blitz in October across print and online channels advertising the criminal charges and, of course, the sustained and sensational media coverage of subsequent court hearings in the matter.

This approach is tactless and the agency should rather be focusing its mind and resources on winning the case in court, so that it can hopefully gain a judicial precedent that will establish the expansive scope to which it seems to have stretched its powers in the Coca-Cola/NBC matter. What if, after all of this media blitz, the court decides that CPC had acted out of order?

The agency’s media goal in this case seems to be to amplify the nuisance factor, and this may be anchored on the perception that multinational corporations become vulnerable whenever their reputation is threatened. The ultimate aim is possibly to weaken the companies’ resolve to press on with the judicial review and thereby force them to pay the outrageous sum or to some form of settlement arrangement in order to have peace.

How else does one explain the criminalization of the companies’ decision to seek judicial review of the orders, the orchestrated media blitz on the criminal case and the latest twist, i.e. the unleashing of activist NGOs and lawyers, all of whom are accusing the companies of impunity?

It is noteworthy that impunity or reverse impunity is more grievous when it is committed by a government or its agency, as there is no further recourse for the victim and such act encourages everyone else to follow suit and it sends wrong signals about our country.

My piece of honest advice to the Director-General of CPC is four-fold: first, the media is an unpredictable and often dangerous wave to ride to fame. Secondly, regulation is serious business and cannot be effectively and sustainably carried out with melodramatic approach. Thirdly, the fixation onthe Coca-Cola/NBC case seems to have blinded the agency to the entrenched abuses that consumers suffer in many sectors across our land. Finally, you have pulled the trigger, do not chase after the bullet. Let the courts finish the job!
- Oluwo, an analyst, writes from Lagos.
December 18, 2014
CPC, NBC tango in consumers’ interest

Following the recent media reports about the ongoing investigation of Coca Cola Nigeria Limited and its bottling affiliate, Nigerian Bottling Company Plc, by the Consumers’ Protection Council (CPC) over series of complaints about products pushed into the Nigerian market, stakeholders and consumers have urged both organisations to resolve the issue amicably. TOBA AGBOOLA and TONIA ‘DIYAN report.

The media space in Nigeria has been awash with tussle between the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) and the Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited with its sister company, Nigeria Bottling Company (NBC) and their managing directors over alleged poor manufacturing standards and violation of regulator’s orders. It reached a climax when the CPC opted for judicial review of the orders by a court of competent jurisdiction as provided by law.

Stakeholders’ reaction

Concerned Nigerians have spoken on the issue with many corroborating the CPC, while a few questioned the immediate and remote interests of the agency in going after the international beverage giant.

According to some stakeholders, the crux of the matter is an apparent attempt by these companies, both of which are well known and otherwise respected brands, to avoid and indeed, reject regulatory oversight by the CPC. The law mandated CPC to ensure that products and services offered to the public meet certain standards concerning wholesomeness and value for money, among others and provide some redress for consumers, who are cheated of their hard earned cash in the process.

They said it is important, in the national interest, that the CPC safeguards both the consumer and the industry’s interests through balanced regulation.

In a press release by All Citizens Forum Nigeria, an organisation committed to good citizenship, there is need for the two organisations to resolve the crisis in the interest of both the consumers and the country as a whole.

The leader of the organisation, Ropo Adeniyi, said: “Rule of law and due process are constrained to lend our voice and support to all efforts both in the private and public sectors geared towards transforming Nigeria from a country where “anything goes” to where rules are respected and followed.

“However, some companies with their eyes apparently fixed solely on profits do not want this to happen being comfortable with the business as usual.

“They have tried to portray the CPC as being desperate to raise revenue as justification to impose unreasonable fines on companies under the guise of consumer protection.

“Yet what we see is quite different. We believe that for once, a public service organisation is truly serving the public interest. Indeed, by stepping on toes, the CPC has demonstrated the resolve of the present administration that it will work in the interest of the greater good.”

The group drew the attention of the public to the press statement issued by CPC at the conclusion of the investigation in Lagos on February 18, this year, which is to initiate and conduct an investigation into whether the products conformed with ordinary standards of care and implied assurance and reasonable expectation that they are of the same average grade, quality and value as similar products sold under similar circumstances.

Vice President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) Mr. Dele Oye, commended the CPC for the boldness to take on the multinational, stressing that those days were gone when some companies were set apart from the rest on the ground that they must be above boards simply because they have deep roots in the international community.

“I commend the CPC for taking the step. This would send a strong signal into the market and it will make the message unequivocally clear that the agency would not be taking any prisoners. So, companies that still cut corners would have to hasten to make amends otherwise they cannot escape,” Oye said.

President of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), Mr Ken Ukaoha, said provided the steps are being taken primarily for the protection of the ordinary Nigerian, it must be encouraged. He, however, warned that it would be counter productive to the Federal Government’s quest to attract foreign investors into the country, if regulatory agency take on multinationals with ulterior motives.

CPC Investigation and Findings

In renewed efforts to protect Nigerian consumers from unwholesome practices of manufacturing concerns, both multi-nationals and locals, the CPC said it had put various big companies in its watch list.

Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited and its manufacturing unit, the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC), however, became the first multinational to bear the wrath of a consumer protection agency that claims that it is now ready to work for the good of ordinary Nigerians.

The agency has now ordered the producers of the most consumed soft drinks in the world to subject their manufacturing processes to the council’s inspection for a period of 12 months to ensure compliance with laid down safety standards and regulations, having been found to have dropped the ball lately.

The directive came on the heels of a recent investigation by the CPC, which revealed that cans of Sprite manufactured by NBC, under the licence of Coca-Coca Nigeria Limited, were unwholesome for human consumption.

The Director-General, CPC, Mrs. Dupe Atoki, confirmed the development during a media briefing on the ‘Investigation into Violation of Product Quality Standards by the NBC and Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited’, in Lagos.

The CPC, a parastatal under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments, is duly empowered by the Consumer Protection Council Act Cap 25, LFN 2004, to, among others, provide speedy redress to consumers’ complaints, remove hazardous products from the market, cause an offending company to protect, and compensate and provide relief to injured consumers.

The Act also empowers the CPC to encourage the adoption of appropriate measures by companies to ensure that products were safe for intended use, ban the sale of products, which do not comply with safety or health regulations, undertake investigation of consumer abuse, and prosecute violators of all enactments for protecting consumers.

Atoki said following a consumer complaint received regarding two half-empty cans of Sprite manufactured by NBC under the licence and authority of Coca Cola, the CPC in accordance with its Act, investigated the complaint and found out among other things, that the cans of Sprite were defective and had health and safety implications for consumers.

Atoki said: “Pursuant to a consumer complaint received by the CPC regarding two half empty cans of Sprite, products manufactured by the NBC Plc under the licence and authority of Coca Cola Nigeria Limited, the council in accordance with the CPC Act commenced an investigation into the complaint on the 6th day of September 2013 and gave notice thereof to the NBC Plc and Coca Cola Nigeria Limited.”

She said the council subsequently set up a panel, which invited both companies to provide responses or positions regarding the complaint, adding that the companies were given repeated opportunities to make representations, provide information and address sundry issues arising out of the complaint and their operations.

According to her, while the NBC cooperated with the council in the investigation, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, in contravention of applicable law, “elected to adopt a rather hostile and flagrant approach to the council and its proceedings by failing, refusing, neglecting to attend, make depositions or produce documents in its possession.”

Atoki pointed out that the CPC had, prior to the complaint in question, been inundated with similar complaints, such as “rusty bottle tops, rusty cans and foreign particles in beverage products of the NBC under licence of Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited.”

The panel, after five hearings, held between September 2013 and February this year, substantiated the allegation of product defect and violation of the CPC Act.

“Though the investigation was premised on two half-filled cans of Sprite, it led to a plethora of findings, among which are: that the cans of Sprite were products of the NBC under license of Coca-Coca Nigeria Limited; that the cans of Sprite were defective and had health and safety implications for consumers; that the NBC does not have a detailed written shelf life policy for dealing with expired products; and that the NBC’s grievance resolution policy does not cover instances where the consumer suffers physical injury from consumption, or compensation in instances where replacement will be inadequate.”

Other findings, according to the CPC, were that the NBC’s supply chain management did not extend to retailers, who the bulk of Nigerian consumers buy their products from. That the NBC’s traceability policy fails to effectively address the real purpose as the company often relies on information as to the place of purchase of the product.

The CPC boss, however, said Coca Cola and the NBC had been directed to pay compensation to the consumer, whose complaint triggered the investigation.

Coca Cola and NBC’s Response

In their joint response, the NBC and Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited confirmed that the CPC carried out a product complaint investigation involving both companies in respect of two short-filled cans of Sprite.

In a statement signed by Mrs. Adeyanju Olomola for NBC and Mr. Clem Ugorji for Coca-Cola, both companies said they cooperated with the regulatory agency during the investigation, noting with regret that the CPC’s conclusions and recommendations did not appear to have acknowledged the information they supplied.

“As responsible organisations, NBC and CCNL take all matters relating to products very seriously and remain committed to maintaining the highest international quality management and food safety standards and certifications,” the statement said.

“Each organisation cooperated with the Council in the course of the investigation and provided the information available to it in varying respects including but not limited to quality assurance, product handling and consumer complaints resolution processes which have been updated over the years. It is regrettable that the Council’s conclusions and recommendations do not appear to have acknowledged the information,” it added.

Way Forward

Distilling the varied views expressed by different stakeholders, one thing is clear and that is the fact that both the company and the regulator agreed that the two cans of Sprite, which provided the basis for investigation were actually defective. The only contention however, might be the extent to which the drinks in question might have been harmful and also how wide spread the established failure is likely to be in the entire manufacturing system of the company.

The best lesson to be learnt from this occurrence is that consumers and stakeholders must be extra vigilant and conscious when consuming products. The fact that macro impurities in cans create a lot more intricate challenge than impurities in bottles. While most of the bottles are relatively transparent and one can see through if one looks carefully, the cans are completely opaque. And for most consumers, who drink straight from bottles or cans without first turning their drinks into glasses, there is significant exposure to grave risks.

So, love CPC or hate it, one must support the council to carry out its mandate responsibly. And companies that unfortunately come under the hammer of the agency must support it to protect Nigerians because no matter how big any defaulting company’s manufacturing concerns might be, such firm has no business if the very Nigerians it has invested to serve, are eliminated by a careless and sloppy manufacturing process.

November 28, 2014
APCON, CPC, lottery commission ‘tango’ over sales promos

Whose responsibility is it to regulate sales promos ? The answer should be simple. But it is not. The National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC)is locked in a battle against the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the Consumer Protection Council (CPC), writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI

Who should regulate sales promotion run by over 500 advertisers in Nigeria? Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON); Consumer Protection Council (CPC) or the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC)? Are sales promotions an lotteries the same? These are questions that are generating a bad blood against the NLRC, which is forcing advertisers and marketing organisations to pay for vetting of their sales promotional activities.

Observers say this amounts to subjecting advertisers to additional regulation. The CPC and APCON, through its Advertising Standard Panel (ASP), perform a similar role.

The lottery business is believed to be a special intervention fund available to governments as an alternative to raising taxes when there are perceived infrastructural deficits. Funds realised from lotteries are expended in providing infrastructure in critical health, education, transportation and power sectors. With capacity to fetch Nigeria N350bn annually, experts say it is not the same as sales promo.

According to a doctoral student in Marketing at University of Lagos, Kenneth Nwogwu, sales promo is a marketing tool to reward loyal customers.

“Sales promo has different tool of which lottery is one. But the lottery in sales promo is a reward system for loyal customers but it is not the same with the lottery the NLRC should regulate. Sales promo is meant to address a marketing or sales decline to achieve a short term objective and you do not need to buy a ticket to participate in it like the national lottery or other lottery that is not coming on the grounds of marketing a product or reward loyal customers,” he said.

The role of the NLRC in sales promotional regulation is being contested on the ground that the Nigerian Advertising, Laws, Rules and Regulations through Act No 55 of 1988, Act No. 93 o 1992, Act No. 116 of 1993 among others had already empowered “APCON to regulate advertising and sales promotion in all its aspects and ramification.” Also, industry observers believe that the Act 1992 No. 66 that established the CPC also empowered the commission to handle consumers complaints arising from consumption of products and sales, including promo.

The President of Advertisers Association of Nigeria and General Manager Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Kola Oyeyemi told The Nation that the NLRC has no business meddling in the affairs of CPC and APCON. He said everyone in the industry has been quiet over the issue because they were afraid that fighting a government agency might come with an axe on them.

“If you look at what has happened so far, what APCON seems to regulate is advertising and sales promotion, vet the consumer sales promo to ensure that the claims are true and the execution is credible and the prizes are given to customers and consumers. APCON is also to ensure that the mechanics are transparent and the participants are rewarded. What I know CPC does is similar, except the vetting of the communication or the messaging of the sales promo. That already is duplication but for NLRC, it’s meant to regulate lottery and not consumer promo,” he said.

The Dean, Lagos State University-Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication, Prof Lai Oso, told The Nation that on the regulation of sales promotion, APCON’s main concern is vetting the communication of sales promo to ensure that claims made are genuine, adding that the CPC protects consumers when complaints arise. The NLRC, he said, is only meant to regulate national lotteries.

“APCON is concerned with the communication of sales promo and its messages. As a result, it regulates to ensure that those promises are genuine. Lottery commission should not concern itself with that but lottery only,” he said.

The legal tangle

A lawyer, who works with Rickey Tarfa and Co, Gbolahan Gbadamosi, in his article on the issue, said the law that established the lottery commission was borrowed from other jurisdictions. According to him, in England, a statute of 1698 provided that lotteries were illegal unless specifically authorised by a statute. A 1934 Act was further liberalised in 1956 and in 1976 small lotteries were legalised. Its operation became national in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. It was operated by Camelot Group to whom the licence was granted in 1994 and 2007. The lottery was regulated by the National Lottery Commission and was established by the then British Prime Minister, John Major, in 1994. To take maximum advantage of what lottery should be and how it should be operated, when London won the bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, Olympic Lottery scratch cards were launched on July 27, 2005 under the brand name “Go for Gold”.

He said: “From the UK and the US, it is clear that lotteries were established by the government to either raise funds for a specific project or to augment state revenues or to support educational system. In whichever way, tickets were offered as part of lotteries to enable interested parties participate therein.”

National Lotteries Act

The National Lotteries Act, 2005 brought to life the National Lottery Regulatory Commission as signed into law by former President Olusegun Obasanjo on March 30, 2005. Section 57 of the NLA defines “lottery or lotteries” to include “any game, scheme, arrangement, system, plan, promotional competition or device for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, or as a result of the exercise of skill and chance or based on the outcome of sporting events, or any other game, scheme, arrangement, system, plan, competition or device, which the President may, by notice in the gazette, declare to be lottery and which shall be operated, according to a licence.

Gbadamosi explained: “A community reading of sections 17, 18, 19, 21, 23 and 25 of the Act are on the operation of the national lottery, especially Section 19 (1) which reads that, “The President may grant licence to any person or corporate body to operate a national lottery or any lottery, by whatever name called.

“Are the operators of the National Lottery Act implementing the provisions of the statute? The immediate answer is in the negative. What was the NLA created to elicit? What is the state of the National Lottery Trust Fund created by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission? It now seems that the NLRC has almost completely deviated from its mandate of birthing and engendering a viable lottery industry to pursue easy forays in other spheres which are outside its remit. One immediate case in point to illustrate this is the creative stretch of the NLRC towards ‘regulating’ consumer sales promotions of private sector businesses especially in telecommunications, banking, manufacturing, broadcasting, etc. To all intents and purposes, CSPs by definition are a variety of short-term promotional techniques to encourage customers or consumers to respond in some way. A sales promotion is a typical marketing technique that adds values to a product in order to achieve specific marketing goals. In these categories of CSP are some of the companies that engage in short-term promotions which operations are not within the contemplation of the drafters of the National Lottery Act.”

He went on: “It is argued that the act of the NLRC in issuing letters alleging ‘breaches’ of the provisions of the NLA to some companies that engage in short-term promotions is illegal as can be gleaned from section 29 of the Act (Sales of Tickets). This section requires that it is mandatory that a ticket of any lottery under the Act shall be sold on behalf of a licensed company through personal applications postage or electronic transmission. It is my humble submission that companies conducting CSPs do not sell tickets, it is only additional value or incentive for patronising a particular product. The consumer is definitely not engaging in a lottery game as defined by statute because he or she already gets value for his money in terms of the product he or she has paid for.”

The Deputy Director, Public Relations, CPC, Abiodun Obimuyiwa, said the council is empowered to validate promotions to make sure they are not organised to swindle consumers.

A former CEO/Registrar of APCON, Prof Joseph Bel-Molokwu, said the NLRC is a victim of the duplication of function that is common in the public sector.

“We have seen NAFDAC and SON clash over roles and most of the roles have a thin line dividing them. What I advocate is collaboration. We have had conflict before between CPC and APCON. It is a question of collaboration. All I see is regulators jostling for territories to raise revenue. National Lottery should come under APCON’s Advertising Standard Panel as a representative where we have NAFDAC, CPC and others in other to enhance collaborated effort where there is a thin line function,” he said.

When The Nation called the head of the commission, Lagos Zone, Mr. Fidelis Ajibogun, he refused to comment but referred the reporter to the commission’s website for the contact of the legal department.

However, at a news conference held recently in Abuja, the Chairman of the Commission’s board, Damian Doddo, said the commission has contributed very well to the national economy since its establishment.

“In 2013, the commission remitted the sum of N712, 832,222.00 to the Trust Fund and already, more than N537, 306,618.00 has been remitted in the first half of 2014, hence, the total amount so far remitted to the Trust Fund is in excess of four billion naira,” he noted.

According to Doddo, this feat was made possible, because, “the National Lottery Act of 2005 requirement is that, for any game or promotional lottery, 50 per cent of the proceeds should go for prizes, while 20 per cent goes to the National Lottery Trust Fund for the administration of good projects that directly affect the lives of the citizens.”

He added that the commission was consistent and up-to-date in making the necessary remittances to the Fund.

The Nation learnt that the commission is lobbying the National Assembly to include sales promotion in its mandate, but stakeholders believe that the intrusion of the commission into promos must have been necessitated by the collapse of the National Sports Lottery, the platform the commission was designed to regulate. However, concern stakeholders advised the government to revive the National Sports Lottery to create platform of operation for NLRC. Citing the success in Lagos State, industry players told The Nation that Federal Government should create an enabling environment for lottery to operate.

November 17, 2014