Private sector coalition advocates passage of Competition Bill
NAN-HE-22
Bill
Abuja, Nov. 30, 2016 (NAN) A group of business people, Private Sector Coalition on Competition Bill, has advocated the passage of Competition Bill to ease doing of business in the country.
The Technical Adviser to the Coalition, Mr Leonard Ugbajah, made the call at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the Bill had been pending in the National Assembly for 16 years.
Ugbajah said that the passage of the Bill would help to check monopoly, cartel behaviour and open market for business opportunities.
“It is obvious that we are having a rapid developing sector; before now, the economy was basically government controlled.
“When you have private sector, suppliers of services and goods in the economy and in particular sector, there are certain dangers you need to guide against.
“You need to guide against what the economists called `market failures’. The logic of market failure is why you need this type of regulation,’’ he said.
According to him, the situation now is that some suppliers of good and services have dominated the market.
“ When you have concentration of market power where a particular supplier has dominated position, it will not be able to determine price and output.
“The danger is that market operators or enterprises will likely exploit consumers.
“It is not about exploiting consumers, also it makes it difficult for entrance of new line of business because of pricing technique.’’
Ugbajah said that the Bill was related to Consumer Protection which was earlier presented to the National Assembly.
He said that the 7th Senate advised that the two Bills be harmonised since the Federal Government had established Consumer Protection Council (CPC).
“Some of the members of the 8th National Assembly who have had interest to make sure that Nigeria has this kind of Bill have taken up same bill.
“It was first brought in as Executive Bill and they have sponsored it as private member bill now,’’ the official said.
Ugbajah said that the Bill, which had passed through second reading and being passed to a committee, would help to boost the economy once passed.
The official, however, told NAN that the coalition had been working with the CPC to advocate for the passage of the Bill.
He said the CPC Act, enacted in 1992, was outdated, adding that the new Bill had merged Consumer Protection Act with it.
“What the Bill has done is to propose the re-enactment of CPC and add the regulation part of it and transform the CPC into a Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission.
“CPC is the strongest advocate for the bill because from the organisation perspective, it gives the council power to address some of the market failure.
“ It will give them power to address some market failure which they cannot address within the current legal framework.
“ So, that is why we have come to good place, there is broad based concession between the public and private sector on the need to get the Bill enacted,’’ he said.
KC/CIA/IA
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Edited by Idris Abdulrahman