Reps Give Dangote, BUA 14-Days Ultimatum Over Cement Price.

House of Representatives has issued a 14-day ultimatum to Dangote Cement, BUA, Lafarge Ashaka and other cement manufacturing companies in Nigeria to appear before it to make their submissions over the arbitrary increases in the price of the commodity nationwide.

The Chairman, House Committee on Solid Minerals, Gaza Gbefwi, who gave the directive at a public hearing to investigate the arbitrary increase in the price of cement in Nigeria by cement manufacturers, organised by House Joint Committees on Commerce, Industry, Special Duties and Solid Minerals in Abuja said, the House adopted a motion on the “Arbitrary increase in the price of cement by the cement manufacturers in Nigeria”, and constituted a joint committee to investigate and report back to it for further legislative action.

At the public hearing on Tuesday, none of the cement companies appeared or sent representatives to make submissions on their behalf, and angered by the development, Gbefwi who represents Karu-Keffi-Kokona Federal Constituency, Nasarawa State, said the parliament was not in receipt of a court order restraining it from inviting anybody or companies for investigative purposes.

Earlier in his remarks, the Speaker, Abbas Tajudeen, represented by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, pledged the readiness of the House to come up with appropriate legislation to encourage the industrialization of the country, and also assured the companies invited for deliberations not to see their invitation as a witch-hunting mission, adding that the parliament was only interested in assisting in resolving the challenges in the building sector occasioned by frequent hikes in the price of cement.

The Deputy Speaker asserted that bridging this gap requires affordable and accessible cement prices for both the government and the private sector.