The National Anti-corruption Volunteers Corps (NAVC) would continue to champion activities aimed at curbing incessant sharp practices among traders, especially at the grassroots, through enlightenment.
The Corps Commandant in Kwara South Senatorial District, Mr Olushola Babalola, said this on Thursday during a meeting between NAVC and the officials of the Master Bakers’ Association of Nigeria (MBAN) in Omu-Aran, Kwara.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that NAVC is an arm of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences’ Commission (ICPC).
Babalola said that the meeting was part of the organisation’s campaign strategies to educate, inform and enlighten traders and bakers on the dangers inherent in indulging in fraudulent practices.
He decried traders arbitrarily increasing the prices of food items such as rice, yam flour, vegetable oil, without consultation with stakeholders.
Traders needed to follow due process when attempting to increase the prices of their goods to avoid unnecessary confrontations with the public, he said.
The commandant said the tempo of sharp and corrupt practices had reached an alarming proportion as perpetrators indulged in different tactics to short-change the citizens.
Babalola said that traders were fond of capitalising on celebration of important festivals such as: the Eid-el-Kabir, Easter, Christmas and New Year to hike the prices of their goods.
This should not be a justification for arbitrary increase in prices of commodities, he said.
He also warned traders from hiding under the guise of the present economic difficulties and the fall of the naira against the dollar to engage in sharp practices.
“The increasing level of corrupt practices in all spheres of life, especially at the grassroots, has become a source of concern to the organisation.
“‘Sellers have now formed the habit of reducing the contents or quantities of their products either in litres or kilogramme in order to attract more profit.
“‘Such sharp practices, now prevalent among sellers of food items and other liquid products, are currently receiving due attention from the organisation,’’ Babalola said.
He advised bakers to adhere strictly to the laid down rules and regulations regarding prices of bread and tin sizes to avoid incurring the wrath of the organisation.
Babalola urged the communities to cooperate with the organisation in the ongoing crusade against sharp practices,
He said that the campaign by the organization aimed at combating corrupt practices should not be the sole responsibility of government officials.
He disclosed that the organisation recently embarked on the monitoring of the sales of petroleum products across the state to curb corrupt practices.
Also, Mr Adebayo Adelani, the Secretary of MBAN in Omu-Aran, said that the lack of capital and the increase in the prices of flour had remained the major challenges confronting the association.
He appealed to the state government to assist his members with credit facilities for them to improve their businesses. (NAN)
ISHO/MOL/PAD