Members of the Ogun State House of Assembly today began the second reading of a proposed bill seeking to establish the State Consumer Protection Agency, with the aim of protecting the interest of consumers, settlement of consumer disputes, with a view to getting value for their resources.

Leading the debate on the bill, the sponsor and Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Lukman Adeleye, submitted that the bill was initiated to domesticate the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) in the State, towards entrenching the rights and privileges of consumers, thereby making producers of goods and services more responsible.

Adeleye added that the law proposed to checkmate the sales of hazardous items, tackle consumer exploitation, regulate price and ensure that consumers seek legal redress if not satisfied with the quality of goods and services rendered; noting that such would lessen economic hardship and burden on the consumers.

Other lawmakers also took turn to speak in favour of the bill titled: “State Consumer Protection Law, 2024” at a plenary presided over by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Oludaisi Elemide at a plenary held in the State Assembly, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

The members noted that the bill was a right step to protect the interest of consumers, whose wants and needs remained unlimited.

The lawmakers including Adebisi Oyedele, Babatunde Tella, Seun Adesanya and Adeyanju Adegoke, cited instances of sales of counterfeit products, which needed to be addressed headlong.

They commended the sponsor of the bill, describing it as a legislation that would bring sanity into commercial activities in the State, checkmating hazardous risk confronting consumers through adulterated products.

The lawmakers condemned sharp and unethical practices being witnessed at the moment, noting that the bill when operational, would assist consumers in seeking legal redress when good or services did not meet their expectations.

Responding, Speaker Elemide recalled the old memories of the proactive activities of the consumer regulation, market and price control board in the past which helped sanitize commercial activities and later charged the bill to the Committee on Industry, Trade and Investment for further legislative action.