Traders Association Singer Market, Kano State, on Monday pledged to reduce and stabilise prices of essential commodities in the state.
The Chairman of the Association, Alhaji Ibrahim Danyaro, disclosed this to newsmen on Monday in Kano.
He said this shortly after meeting with the Chairman of Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission, (PCACC), Muhuyi Magaji Rimin-Gado.
The commission had on Sunday raided and sealed 10 warehouses that allegedly hoarded assorted food items at Dawanau International Grains Market and Singer Market.
According to Danyaro, “We are going to work hand in hand with the commission to ensure that there is price control in order to ease life for people in Kano and beyond”.
He said the dealers at the market are selling goods at lesser prices than companies, assuring that they would try to maintain the current price from now till Ramadan and beyond. “We don’t increase prices of foodstuffs like rice, sugar, milk and others.”
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He explained that commodity dealers at Singer Market were not hoarding goods at the expense of consumers, saying that their goods at stores were always open for sale to customers.
“We are pleased to inform you that following the recent operation by the anti-graft commission, we have come with invoices and other documents to prove to the commission that we are not in any way engaged in the hoarding of commodities at the Singer Market.
“We have proved beyond reasonable doubt that we don’t engage in such. Our problem is from the producers of the goods.
” They are the ones increasing the prices unconditionally. What we buy today is not what we will buy tomorrow.
“We have reached an agreement with the commission, that we are not going to increase the prices of goods even as we sell below the company prices.
“We want Governor Yusuf to address this issue by meeting with the producers, to get to the root of the consistent price increase.
WikkiTimes reports that Rimin-Gado had earlier reassured that the commission would go after hoarders and would not relent in its efforts.
He explained that the commodities they found hoarded at the sealed warehouses did not belong to the businessmen of Singer Market.
“They have promised to cooperate with the commission in ensuring that prices of goods are maintained or even reduced and would not rise any more.
“We are going to work with them to ensure that if the prices stabilise, we will make efforts to further reduce them, for the good of the people of Kano,” he said.
On Thursday, Muhuyi threatened to crack down on businessmen who are hiding food items intending to make food items more expensive in the state.
WikkiTimes earlier reported that Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State said he would meet President Bola Tunibu over the economic hardship the Nigerian masses are going through.
That was also coming a day after a protest erupted in Minna, the Niger State capital over the persistent hike in prices of items in the market believed to be one of the impacts of the fuel subsidy removal.
