Nigeria decries businesses’ failure to resolve consumer complaints, feedback

*Regulatory Commission as a regulator and secondary complaint resolution organisation receives no fewer than 10,000 complaints weekly, says Babatunde Irukera, Chief Executive Officer

*FCCPC lacks required staff strength to handle countless complaints that consumers report           

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Sequel to groundswell of issues and complaints being reported to the industry regulator every week, Nigeria’s Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has frowned on the inability of some businesses and service providers to resolve consumers’ complaints and provide feedback mechanisms for their products and services in the country.

Mr. Babatunde Irukera, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of FCCPC, stated this at a National Virtual Policy Dialogue Monday, September 21, 2020, in Abuja, FCT.

Irukera, at the programme organised by the Nigerian Global Affairs Council, said that the regulatory Commission had received complaints on issues from all sectors, ranging from power, foreign/local airlines, telecommunications, pay television (TV) to online trading among others, according to agency report.

The FCCPC Chief disclosed that the unsavoury development has led to an increase in the weekly complaint reports the Commission receives from consumers.

Irukera said though the Commission as a regulator is a secondary complaint resolution organisation, it receives no fewer than 10,000 complaints weekly.

The FCCPC does not have the necessary staff strength to handle the myriad of complaints thronging them.

He advised service providers to use the same mechanism they use in distributing their products and services to receive consumers’ feedback and resolve complaints.

Pushing all complaint resolution to the government is not a sustainable approach to consumer protection, said he.

The CEO of the Commission said: “We are a watchdog not consumer protection department of companies.

“People come to the Commission for everything, and we have just about 12 to 16 persons in our Complaint Resolution Department.

“Even if we decide to employ another 3,000 people, we will still not be able to handle all the complaints that come to us.

“The real people to resolve their consumers’ complaints are companies, but they have failed in their duties to customers.”

Irukera added that “our work is to ensure that companies treat people fairly, eliminating barriers so that competition can thrive and also make sure companies do their job.

“Companies should rise up to their responsibility of resolving their customers’ complaints to reduce the work on the Commission.’’

He, however, urged consumers of good and services to work jointly with the FCCPC to hold companies accountable and make them responsive for effective consumer protection.

According to him, “transformation is when citizens themselves take responsibility, and if there is anywhere a citizen can take responsibility, it is in consumer protection.’’