The House of Representatives has decided to convene with the Dangote BUA management and other cement producers to discuss the exorbitant cost of cement in the nation. This came after a resolution made in plenary on Wednesday by Representative Jonathan Gbefwi (PDP-Nasarawa) was adopted.
Gbefwi, the motion’s presenter, claimed that the country’s building material costs had increased significantly as a result of the manufacturers’ 50% price hike on the good.
“Lime, silica, alumina, iron oxide, and gypsum are the raw materials used to make cement; they are all sourced locally and are not impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates,” he stated. The congressman said that all of the components and production parameters used to create cement were purchased locally.
“Concerned that the manufacturers of cement are capitalizing on exchange volatility to arbitrarily increase the price of the product, whose cost of production has not changed.
“Also concerned that the cement cabal is unconscionably inflicting hardship on Nigerians as the prices of rent and associated services have increased.
“The increase is a direct affront and sabotage of President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s effort to bring comfort to the populace and should be resolved immediately,” he said.
Contributing, Rep. Peter Ifanyi (PDP-Anambra) said that the motion affected the downtrodden in the society. He said that there reports suggesting that producers were going to crash the price of cement to N3, 000, saying however, that the price had continued to rise astronomically.
Rep. Yussuf Gagdi (APC- Plateau) supported the claim, accusing cement dealers of smuggling the commodity to neigbouring countries at the detriment of Nigerians. In his ruling, the Speaker, Rep. Tajudeen Abbas, said cement manufacturers and all relevant agencies of government had questions to answer from the parliament.
