The Vice Chairman and CEO of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, Babatunde Irukera, has said following investigations so far, it can be said that Erisco Foods Limited management were ill advised in seeking the arrest of tomato paste reviewer Chioma Egodi as she did nothing to justify being arrested.
Erisco food limited got Egodi arrested by the Police after she posted a review on Facebook about the product that the brand considered misleading and damaging.
The brand has subsequently faced backlash on social media following the arrest.However, the FCCPC waded in and has confirmed Egodi’s release.
Irukera who was on ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, also stated that the brand has been served a summons which was to determine if the post was fair speech and the role of Erisco in the arrest.“What was important in the immediate interim was determining if Ms Egodi should be subjected to any criminal process and with the evidence we have including the testimony from Erisco, it was sufficient for us to follow up the inspector general to see that we have absolutely no reason to believe that she engaged in anything criminal to warrant arrest or criminal investigation.“Certainly, I think Erisco was ill-advised to consider pursuing law enforcement in respect to this.“In this instant, we thought that immediate summons for immediate appearance, bringing documentation was important.”There were two things we needed to determine with the summons; first to determine if the scope and extent of the expression by the author of the post was fair speech and also to determine what role Erisco had in the arrest of the consumer.”Irukera also said that the claim Erisco made in their press release alleging that they have dominated the tomato market has no evidence to back it up.“The investigation is still at its early stage, for instance, the statement alleges anti-competitive conduct.
“Also,they made a statement that someone is concerned about their dominance in the market. “Dominance is a legal conclusion in competition terms and we have no evidence that Erisco is the dominant tomato maker or food business at all from a competition standpoint. So, those are things we would look at.“We would slice the market into different segments and see if they dominate in any area at all.”The FCCPC boss further said investigations to confirm the claim and concerns of a competitor trying to demarket the brand is equally ongoing.
Responding to the issue of sacred cows in the country who flout competition laws, Irukera said there has never been a time he was restricted from making any defaulter pay for offenses.
“In my role in the government, we have confronted the small and we have confronted the big. We have confronted the monopolies and we have confronted the dominant businesses.
Some have paid over a hundred million dollars in penalties to the federal government on account of their anti-competitive or anti-consumer behavior.
“But every step of the way, there has never been any question about what we are doing. We have always been able to present the facts and there has never been a time when we were told to back down and not do our work.
”Chioma Kalu
Follow us on:
President Bola Tinubu on Friday declared that his purpose for seeking the nation's number one…
Kano state government is partnering Tony Blair Institute for Global Change to attract $23.5 million…
Nigeria's federal government has said it is currently reviewing the nation’s legal frameworks, among other…
The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, and the Port Harcourt International Airport have been recognised…
https://cdn.veri.app/13646108-d5ec-478b-a54c-b01f60dbca29.mp4 President Bola Ahmed Tinubu On Thursday directed Vice President, Kashim Shettima to lead Nigeria’s…
The United Sates (US) Vice President Kamala Harris has expressed her willingness to use her…
View Comments
E-AUCTION E-AUCTION Some Auction Vehicles/Cars For Sale
Mama Africa #17,000 •Tomatoes Rice # *15,000* •Cap Rice #15,000 •My Food #17,000 •Mama Gold #17,500 •Ade Brazil #15,000 •Elephant Gold #15,000 •Royal Umbrella #15,000 Etc.
Golf3= 400,000
Camry Tinny-Light=550,000
Tundra 1,300,000
Toyota Exterra=850,000
Toyota Camry big daddy=700,000
Toyota Venza= 1.7million
Toyota Avalon=850,000
Toyota Rav4=950,000
Toyota Prado=1.3million
TOYOTA HILUX=2million
Toyota Sienna=850,000
TOYOTA 4-RUNNER=950,000
Toyota Corolla=650,000
Toyota Matrix= 800,000
Toyota Highlander=950,000
Toyota Picnic=500,000
Tacoma 1.850,000
Toyota Hiace Bus=950,000
Toyota Tundra=1.5million
Toyota Sequola=900,000
BMW 5-series=1.960,000
BMW 3-series=1.640,000
BMW X6=2.670,000
Ford Edge=700,000
Ford Escape=600,000
Honda Elantra=600,000
Honda Baby-Boy=700,000
Dyna Truck 900k
TIPPER Head 6mill
Honda Accord=550,000
Honda CRV=650,000
HONDA CIVIC=500,000
HONDA EVIL-SPIRIT=750,000
HONDA ODYSSEY=500,000
Honda Pilot=850,000
Nissan pathfinder=800,000
Nissan Amanda=750,000
Infinity=950,000
Benz C250=N1.300,000
Benz C300=1.6MILLION
Benz ML350=2 million
Benz ML300=1.5 million
Benz ML550=2.6million
Mercedes-Benz C-Class ₦1.3Million
Mercedes-Benz E-Class ₦1.8Million
Mercedes-Benz GLK ₦3.Million
Es330 1.6
Lexus C5 350=950,000
IS250 1m
Lexus Rx300=1.2 million
Lexus Rx330=1.5 million
Is350 2
Lexus Rx350= 2 million
ES350 2mill
Land Rover Discovery ₦3.2Million
Land Rover Freelander ₦3.6Million
Land Range Rover Sport ₦4Million
Acura MDX ₦1.8Million
Pequot 206=500,000
Pequot 406=550,000
Pequot 607=650,000
.....
((09156089111 (+234_915_608_9111)