CPC seeks competition, consumer protection commission

The Consumer Protection Council is working with the National
Assembly for passage of bill to establish the Federal Competition
and Consumer Protection Commission.

The bill, according to the Director-General, CPC, Mr. Babatunde
Irukera, codifies consumer rights for the first time in Nigeria as
it makes clear provisions for the enforcement of consumer rights by
defining offences and penalties.

He explained that the bill sought to modernise the country’s
consumer protection regime to include competition legislation to
enhance economic growth and support the economic recovery programme
of the government.

“It is a bill of rights that will be translated in many
languages and will capture regulations on guarantees and
warrantees, refunds, returns and repairs, and many others,” Irukera
said in a presentation made in Lagos.

To mitigate consumer challenges in the country, he said the
council had come up with a number of initiatives, including the
proposed Patients’ Bill of Rights in the health sector to govern
the relationship between health practitioners and their
patients.

According to the CPC boss, the Patients’ Bill of Rights will
significantly increase the quality of health care delivery in the
country.

Irukera said, “If we can just clean up how we treat ourselves;
just that alone and let’s leave the infrastructure challenges, we
can save lives.

“And so one of the big things we are working on and we hope that
comes out very soon is the Patient’s Bill of Rights, which is just
a statement of the rights of patients and the responsibility of
health care providers; we intend to translate it into different
languages and make it mandatory that it is pasted in public
hospitals and even private hospitals.”

Copyright PUNCH.

The Consumer Protection Council is working with the National
Assembly for passage of bill to establish the Federal Competition
and Consumer Protection Commission.

The bill, according to the Director-General, CPC, Mr. Babatunde
Irukera, codifies consumer rights for the first time in Nigeria as
it makes clear provisions for the enforcement of consumer rights by
defining offences and penalties.

He explained that the bill sought to modernise the country’s
consumer protection regime to include competition legislation to
enhance economic growth and support the economic recovery programme
of the government.

“It is a bill of rights that will be translated in many
languages and will capture regulations on guarantees and
warrantees, refunds, returns and repairs, and many others,” Irukera
said in a presentation made in Lagos.

To mitigate consumer challenges in the country, he said the
council had come up with a number of initiatives, including the
proposed Patients’ Bill of Rights in the health sector to govern
the relationship between health practitioners and their
patients.

According to the CPC boss, the Patients’ Bill of Rights will
significantly increase the quality of health care delivery in the
country.

Irukera said, “If we can just clean up how we treat ourselves;
just that alone and let’s leave the infrastructure challenges, we
can save lives.

“And so one of the big things we are working on and we hope that
comes out very soon is the Patient’s Bill of Rights, which is just
a statement of the rights of patients and the responsibility of
health care providers; we intend to translate it into different
languages and make it mandatory that it is pasted in public
hospitals and even private hospitals.”

Copyright PUNCH.