The Federal government has said it cannot fold its arms and see the price of cement spiralled out of control.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi has summoned cement manufacturers to a meeting on Monday to examine the issues surrounding the latest development.
According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the Minister on. Edward, Uchenna Orji, the Minister was “Worried by the escalating cost of cement despite huge patronage by road and housing contractors to cement manufacturers.”
Those invited to the urgent meeting include Dangote Plc, BUA Plc, Larfarge and the other manufacturers.
The meeting is scheduled to take place on the at the Federal Ministry of Works, Mabushi-Abuja.
The Minister was quoted as saying that “It is common knowledge that the manufacturers have their challenges, which we shall look into, but from our findings, the disparity between ex-factory price and the market price is wide.
“We therefore need to look into the situation and other issues with a view to finding a common front”.
Recall, a 50 kilograms bag of cement in the Federal Capital Territory, surged to between N10,000 and N15,000.
A market survey conducted on Friday by our correspondent in Gwarimpa, Area 10, Kubwa, Lugbe and Dawaki showed that a 50kg bag of Dangote cement is N10,000 and other competitors’ cement stood at N15,000.
A retailer in Gwarimpa, Yinka Adebayo, said that the price of Dangote cement is N10,000 while that of another competitor is N15,000.
He said he sold a bag of cement for N6,000 in January 2023.
“We sell Dangote cement at N10,000 per bag, and another is N15,000. Unfortunately, it will surprise you that I sold the same bag of cement, N5,500 to N6000, last month,” he said.
Similarly, Rukiyat Abdullahi, a retailer in Kubwa, said Dangote cement is sold for N10,200 while another brand goes for N16,000.
“Dangote is now N10,200 while its competitors goes for N16,000 per bag”,.
At Lugbe, the retailers confirmed to our correspondent that Dangote and other cement prices are N10,000 and N15,000, respectively.
Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Musa Dangiwa decried the astronomical rise in the price of cement and other building materials across the country.
He said the price hike was unacceptable and insisted the fluctuation in the exchange rate of the dollar could not be blamed.
Recall that for more than five months, the Cement Producers Association of Nigeria cautioned that the Federal Government’s plan to introduce concrete roads could increase cement prices to N9,000 per bag.
The development comes amid a continued soar in Nigeria’s inflation. The National Bureau of Statistics, in its Consumer Price Index report for January, said inflation soared to 29.90 per cent.
