Consumer Protection: FG embarks on weights, measures surveillance in Lagos

The Federal Government on Wednesday embarked on weights and measures surveillance in Lagos State in a bid to promote consumer protection.

The exercise is part of the government’s ongoing multi-sector surveillance across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the   surveillance is being carried out by the Weights and Measures Department of the Federal Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment

A team from the department inspected the Olam Warehouse at Iganmu as well as fuel pumps at the NNPC  filling station at Ijora, on Wednesday.

Dr Adesuyi Olajide, Director, Weights and Measures Department and Fellow of the Security Institute, said during the surveillance that it was aimed at ensuring that Nigerians would get the right value for their money.

“The government is concerned that Nigerians should get the right value for their money.

“The annual surveillance of the Weights and Measures Department is extremely critical in maintaining accuracy and consistency in trade activities, industrial and scientific applications.

“The ongoing surveillance is across the 36 states of the country and the FCT,” he said.

Olajide said that the team began the surveillance last week in Abuja and would continue in Ogun State next week.

“Government is concerned about the protection of all consumers so that nobody is short-changed.

“We want that when consumers go to any market to buy, for example, a 50kg bag of rice, they should be assured that what they get is 50kg,” Olajide said.

He said that the government would not condone cheating of any consumer in any sector of the economy.

“Ensuring customer protection is part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“We also ensure compliance with our regulations.

“We have our standards, and compliance to these standards is a prerequisite for getting certified by Weights and Measures Department.

“We usually carry surveillance unannounced as the companies/ organisations are not pre-informed before the exercise,” the director said.

He warned that sanctions would be imposed on defaulting organisations.

“When we find any defaulting organisation or company, we seal up immediately and ensure they comply.

“They may also have to pay a token for defaulting in their weights or measurements. If there are no sanctions, the defaulters will continue,” he said.

Earlier, the Lagos State Zonal Coordinator of the department, Mrs Cordelia Nwachukwu, said that the  surveillance was being strictly  monitored.

“The Weights and Measures Department in Abuja usually comes to the Lagos Zone to supervise us as we conduct surveillance on businesses that use weights and measures.

“Anywhere you see businesses using weights and measures for trade, we are there to regulate them. It cuts across all sectors.

“The Abuja office comes from time to time to monitor our activities. Today we are  visiting a filling station at Ijora and the Olam Rice Warehouse at Iganmu.

“We will monitor their fuel pumps and scales to ensure compliance with standard weights and measures.

“We want to make sure Nigerians enjoy fairness in trade; hence, this surveillance,” Nwachukwu said.

Responding, the Manager of  Olam Rice Warehouse at Iganmu, Mr Joseph Ayilola, commended the team for the surveillance and promised that the company would make necessary adjustments.

“Sincerely, we appreciate this inspection and if this surveillance will cut across all sectors, the hope of everybody will be renewed.

“From the inspection, we observed that some of our 25kg bags of rice are above 25kg due to faults in our scales.

“By  the time you put those fractions together, we will be losing out,” he said.

The manager said that some of his team members would need to undergo training  to do better.

“I want to salute the courage of the director to come to our level to look at things himself and make those corrections.  We are really pleased and encouraged.

“It is  going to be a kind of inspiration to the company.

“We are grateful that we are not found short-changing consumers or breaking the law with our weights and measures,” Ayilola said.

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