NEWS
FCCPC Cautions Coca-Cola, NBC over Deceptive Product Labelling
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has issued its final regulatory order on Coca-Cola and the Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd.
A statement by the management of FCCPC in Abuja on Thursday, said the order was issued to the companies for misleading trade descriptions, unfair marketing tactics which violated Sections 116 and 124 (1) of the FCCPAct.
The Commission said the companies had continued to mislead consumers to believing that Coca-Cola “Original Taste, Less Sugar” variant as one and the same, as well as unchanged, when in actual fact, same had indeed changed.
FCCPC said its investigations revealed that the variant was different, differently formulated and not the same as their otherwise “classic, or “Original Taste”.
The Commission said it had reserved the quantum of the penalty appropriate under the FCCPA and Administrative Penalties Regulation 2020 (APR) for further regulatory action, and would impose same in due course.
The Commission said the companies had initially sought to end the investigation and regulatory process by adopting clearer, more transparent and truthful descriptions and differentiation of the relevant variants of their products.
”The Commission granted this accommodation, and also gave Coca-Cola and NBC the opportunity and prerogative to propose remedies including descriptions and product differentiations that comply with applicable statutory standards.
”Coca-Cola, NBC, and the Commission engaged in a lengthy process of building consensus around a mutually agreed differentiation and description of the different relevant products.
”Coca-Cola and NBC sought an extended timeline before changing to the newly mutually agreed product descriptions and differentiations as proposed by them in order to exhaust existing packaging inventory, and lead time for new packaging inventory to arrive in stock.
”The Commission granted the extension as requested.
”On the eve of the cut-off date, and end of the extension, Coca-Cola and NBC abandoned the months of work and mutually agreed outcome with the Commission, for a different business strategy, which has turned out not to meet the applicable standards.
”Over the next years, it became clear to the Commission that neither Coca-Cola, nor NBC desired or intended to provide transparency to consumers in a manner that complied with the standards in the FCCPA,” the Commission said.
FCCPC said that in spite of the multiple and repeated engagements with Coca-Cola, NBC and their respective legal practitioners, the current market status and consumer feedback demonstrated the ineffectiveness and weak differentiations the companies had adopted.
”Coca-Cola and NBC after regulatory intervention still failed to take appropriate steps to modify misleading behaviour demonstrating that the companies acted intentionally by misrepresenting Coca-Cola Original Taste Less Sugar as Coca-Cola Original Taste in a deliberate business strategy.
”Furthermore, NBC used identical packaging for both Zero Sugar and its 50:50 variant of Limca Lime- Lemon flavoured drink, misleading consumers and violating Sections 17(g), 116(1) & (2), and 123 of the FCCPA.
”This also violates Section 2(a) of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control Act 2004.
”Accordingly, and considering that the conduct continues and remains, the Commission has entered, issued and served its Final order on Coca-Cola and NBC on July 29.
”The Final Order contains the Commission’s findings”.
The Commission said the investigation commenced in 2019. (NAN)
NEWS
Gunmen Attack Police Station, Kill 2 in Anambra
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)NEWS
IPPIS Data Base not Compromised, OAGF Assures Employees
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.NEWS
Again, Inflation Drops to 32.15% in August
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).