Food insecurity: Court orders FG to fix prices of goods in 7 days

 

.As  economist tasks FG on cooperative farming

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday ordered the Federal Government to fix the prices of goods and petroleum products within seven days.

 

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa specifically ordered the government to fix the price of milk, flour, salt, sugar, bicycles, and their spare parts, matches, motorcycles and their spare parts, motor vehicles and their spare parts as well as petroleum products, which includes diesel, Premium Motor Spirit and kerosene.

 

The judge gave the order while delivering judgment in a suit No FHC/L/CS/869/2023, filed by human rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana, against the Price Control Board and the Attorney-General of the Federation, listed as the first and second defendants.

 

Falana had approached the court to determine whether by virtue of Section 4 of the Price Control Act., the first respondent is carrying out its duty to impose a price on any goods that are of the kind specified in the First Schedule to the Price Control Act.

 

“A declaration that the failure or refusal of the respondents to fix the prices of bicycles and spare parts; flour; matches; milk; motorcycles and spare parts; motor vehicles and spare parts; salt; sugar and petroleum products including diesel, petrol motor spirit, and kerosene is illegal as it offends the provision of Section 4 of the Price Control Act, Cap., Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004,” Falana said.

 

At the hearing of the case on Wednesday, the plaintiff, Falana informed the court that the motion on notice was premised on Section 4 (1) of the Price Control Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

 

He also told the court that the defendants in the suit have been served with the processes since it was filed in May 2023, but refused and failed to file any response or counter to it.

 

 

Falana consequently urged the court to grant all the reliefs sought since there is no counter from the respondents.

 

Justice Lewis-Allagoa, after listening to Falana’s submission, observed that the respondents did not file any counter to the suit.

 

The judge citied decided cases and held that, “all the reliefs contained in the motion paper are hereby granted as prayed.”

Falana, in the affidavit in support of the motion deposed to by a lawyer in his chambers, Taiwo E. Olawanle, stated that the first defendant, the Price Control Board, was established by the Price Control Act, and it is saddled with the responsibility to fix a price on goods to stabilise the general price level, prevention of hoarding of goods, protection of customers from exorbitant prices, among others.

 

The second defendant is the Chief Law Officer of the country.

 

He also stated that the plaintiff has been involved in the defence and promotion of human rights in Africa for over three decades and that on account of his human rights works, the plaintiff has been honoured by many local and international organisations.

 

The deponent averred that on January 3, 2023, he was informed by the plaintiff  “that the following commodities are listed in the Price Control Act: bicycles and its spare parts, flour, matches, milk, motorcycles and spare parts, motor vehicles and spare parts, petroleum products, salt and sugar.

 

 

“The Act basically gave the first respondent powers to fix the prices of the wide array of commodities listed above.

 

“Though the price of the commodities listed above is supposed to be imposed by the first respondent, the only petroleum products that are fixed to a certain amount are not being enforced.

 

“That the price of a bag of rice which was formerly N8,000 has risen to N45,000 in the market.

 

“The situation in the market is by each passing day is becoming unbearable for consumers as prices of goods kept rising daily.

 

“Sellers are not always sincere as they are so desperate to make excessive profits at the expense of the buyers.

 

“Food prices which human beings should not be deprived of are on the high side due to lack of price fixing by the first defendant. And that buyers are at the receiving end when the prices of goods are increased as they tend to suffer for it more.”

 

Meanwhile, An Economist, Mr Abba Adaudu, has urged the Federal Government to constitute Cooperative Farming for successful businessmen in the six Geo-political Zones to curtail the current high prices of foods in the country.
Adaudu, also a financial consultant, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Wednesday.
According to him, forming cooperative farming will assist to cushion the effects of food shortage and high prices of food in the country.
He noted that by empowering successful businessmen in the six geo-political zones would help to address the current food crisis in the country.
Adaudu added that if this policy was implemented with adequate supervision and security to protect these farmers in these zones; more food and employment opportunities would be created.
He noted that the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention was for a short term solution, adding that there was a need for the government to adopt long term measures to alleviate the current situation.
The economist and financial consultant noted that the release of grains from food silos through the Strategic Food Reserve across the country would not meet the current food demands.
He said once the economic and food challenges were addressed, the current insecurity in the country would be no more, adding that many people were hungry and would do anything to survive.
Adaudu urged the Federal Government to give tax waivers to these farmers so that they could import all the machinery they needed to do their farming also make fertilisers cheaply available to them.
He said when this was done, more food would be produced and the government would have more foods to feed the masses and excess would be exported to earn foreign exchange for the country.
On the issue of corruption, he said ethnicity; religion and were the major causes of corruption in the country.
“We should do more on national interest and gradually play down ethnic interest that has been raised above the national interest.
“People are going into politics (leadership) not for national interest but on the basis of religious and tribal interests’’.
He said insecurity is witnessed where there are economic activities such fishing, good fertile land and mining activities, listing Lake Chad area, Niger delta and middle belt areas where much of this insecurity were witnessed.
Adaudu, the politicians on ostentatious display of their wealth in the midst of many poor people, said this breeds envy, which could cause protest in the society.
He advised that the government should assuage the suffering of the people by providing basic amenities to them and stop ostentatious displays of wealth by politicians in the midst of many poor people.
He said this ostentatious display of wealth by the elite could breed envy which could lead to protest in the country.
Adaudu also called on the Government to evenly distribute the nation’s natural resources and ensure that minority ethnic groups were carried along in the developmental process.
According to him, this will enable the smaller minority to have a sense of belonging and check ethnic agitations threatening national unity.
He opined that national rebirth was possible when all Nigerians forget their political, religious and regional differences and work together for the unity of the entire country.(NAN)