I Violated FCCPC Due Process To Help Sahad Stores – VP Shettima Confesses
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima on Saturday, August 31, 2024, confessed that he ordered the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to immediately reopen Sahad Store, a supermarket owned by his friend, Ibrahim Mijinyawa, after it was shut down for violating pricing regulations.
Shettima, who confessed his action at the inauguration of Sahad Hospitals in Abuja on Saturday, said he deliberately obstructed FCCPC’s investigations by contacting the commission’s head to reopen Mr Mijinyawa’s supermarket that was shut following the extortion of customers and lack of transparency in price fixing.
The Vice President’s intervention and confession pointed to the intrigues in government circle and how connections between Nigerian business owners and political figures do lead to legal exemptions and known adherence to accountability.
Shettima pointedly said that when the FCCPC locked up Mikinyawa’s store, he had to call the Head of the Agency and asked him to reopen the store before he could go to tell him what happened.
In the words of Shettima; “I did so because I know how helpful Sahad Stores is to many Nigerians. He (Alhaji Mijinyawa) is a very good man. He has used his business to touch many lives.”
“If he were a selfish man, he would have kept his money to himself, his children, and grandchildren alone because he has enough to take care of himself till he leaves this world,” he said.
In February this year, the FCCPC shut down Sahad Stores when its investigations indicated that the supermarket was violating the law on pricing amid soaring food prices.
The Commission had in a press statement said it conducted an on-the-spot check on Sahad Stores in Abuja on February 16, 2024, leading to the temporary closure of the store due to continued violations involving misleading pricing and lack of transparency.
The statement said; “Earlier, on January 8, 2024, the FCCPC investigated Sahad Stores following reports of misleading pricing practices. The investigation revealed that Sahad Stores displayed lower prices on shelves and charged higher prices at checkout, contravening Section 115 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018.”
The FCCPC further said a summons was issued to Sahad Stores’ staff to appear on February 12, 2024, to discuss corrective measures but, the staff failed to attend without justification which then raised concerns about potential violations under section 33(3) of the FCCPA.
This is as the acting executive Vice Chairman of FCCPC, Adamu Abdullahi, said in a statement on February 17 that the reopening of the supermarket followed a mutual understanding and commitment from the Store to implement transparent pricing practices.
