Senate Moves To Investigate Cement Producers Over Hike In Prices
The Nigerian Senate has decided to investigate the disturbing rise in the cost of cement and other construction materials across the nation.
In a plenary session held on Wednesday, February 21, the Red Chamber expressed its intention to conduct the probe in order to identify a resolution to the issue.
The decision was made following a point of order raised by Lola Ashiru, the deputy senate leader, regarding the urgent necessity to tackle the surge in cement prices and other building materials in Nigeria.
Ashiru emphasized the significance of the construction sector in infrastructure development and economic progress, highlighting its strong dependence on cement and other building materials for sustainability.
“This is because key building materials, particularly cement and iron rod prices, are now sold at prohibitive rates, with cement and iron rod recently rising from N5,500 per bag in January 2024 to about N14,000 and N8,500 to N17,000, respectively,” he said.
The lawmaker added: “Cognisant that affordable cement and other building materials are indispensable to national development, addressing the issue in time will be advantageous to the construction industry.
“This is because it will ensure the progress of constituency projects and strengthen national security by providing jobs and stability and improve the livelihood of Nigerians generally.”
Following the presentation, the senate directed the committee led by Francis Fadahunsi to investigate the operations of cement manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The legislators aim to determine if market manipulation or monopolistic practices are responsible for the recent price increase, tasking the committee to provide a report within two weeks.
Cement prices have surged from N4,000 to fluctuate between N8,000 and N10,000 per bag in recent weeks. Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge were among the companies summoned by the works ministry for questioning.
It could be recalled that the federal government, on February 13, reached an agreement with cement producers to set the price of 50kg bags of cement at a range of N7,000 to N8,000.
