SaharaReporters reported earlier on Wednesday that FCCPC stated that officials and owners of the Chinese supermarket risked the payment of N10 million each for discriminating against Nigerians if found guilty, in line with the law.
Nigerian agency, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has said that officials and owners of the Abuja Chinese supermarket facing allegations of discriminatory practices have responded to its summons to answer questions regarding the allegations.
SaharaReporters reported earlier on Wednesday that FCCPC stated that officials and owners of the Chinese supermarket risked the payment of N10 million each for discriminating against Nigerians if found guilty, in line with the law.
FCCPC Acting Executive Vice Chairman, Abdullai Adamu, who disclosed this in an interview with Arise TV on Tuesday, said officers of the agency met the supermarket locked but pasted notes summoning the owners and officials on the facility.
He clarified that it was not the FCCPC officials who shut the facility.
Adamu added that the owner and management of the supermarket had been summoned to the FCCPC office to defend the allegations against them.
However, the commission in an update posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday, along with the pictures of the officials of the supermarket, said its operatives have inspected the facility.
The post read: "Update: Owners of the Abuja Chinese Supermarket facing allegations of discriminatory practices responded to our summons today to answer questions regarding the allegations.
"FCCPC operatives have conducted an inspection of the facility.
"We will continue to provide updates as the investigation progresses."
Meanwhile, one of the pictures posted by FCCPC is a voucher in Chinese Yuan, which shows that trading had been done at the supermarket in a foreign currency.
It is to do domestic trades in foreign currencies in Nigeria.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had said in a statement, “It has also been observed that some institutions price their goods and services in foreign currencies and demand payments in foreign currencies rather than the domestic currency (the Naira), which is the legal tender in Nigeria.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the attention of the general public is hereby drawn to the provisions of the CBN Act of 2007, which states inter-alia that ‘the currency notes issued by the Bank shall be legal tender in Nigeria…for the payment of any amount’.
“Furthermore, the Act stipulates that any person(s) who contravenes this provision is guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a prescribed fine or six months imprisonment.
“This prohibition, however, is without prejudice to foreigners, visitors and tourists who are encouraged to continue to use their cards for payments or exchange their foreign currency for local currency at any of the authorized dealers’ outpost.”