The House of Representatives has resolved to invite the management of Dangote, BUA and other cement manufacturers over the high cost of cement in the country.
This followed the adoption of a motion by Rep. Jonathan Gbefwi at plenary on Wednesday who said the manufacturers had raised the price of the commodity by 50 per cent leading to sharp increase in the cost of building materials in the country.
“The raw materials for the manufacturing of cement, which include lime, silica, alumina, iron oxide, and gypsum, are all sourced locally and not affected by exchange rate volatility,” he said.
The lawmaker noted that all the factors of production and elements of the cement production were being sourced locally.
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“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.
Member Representing Anambra state, Peter Ifany said that the motion affected the downtrodden in the society, noting that there were reports suggesting that producers were going to crash the price of cement to N3, 000. He however added that the price had continued to rise astronomically.
Rep. Member from Plateau Yussuf Gagdi supported the claim, accusing cement dealers of smuggling the commodity to neighboring countries at the detriment of Nigerians.
Speaker of the house, Tajudeen Abbas, said cement manufacturers and all relevant agencies of government had questions to answer from the parliament.
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