Following the criticism of the House of Representatives against Cement Manufacturers, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise expressed its displeasure over the remarks made by the house.
Muda Yusuf,the chief Executive Officer of CPPE, said most of the remarks at the session were capable of inciting the public against the cement manufacturers and putting their huge investments at risk.
He noted that it was more troubling that the members had not listened to the manufacturers before rushing to judgment and castigating the manufacturers.
The statement read in part, “Members alleged that the manufacturers were exploitative as they engaged in arbitrary fixing of cement price. Some members even described the manufacturers as unpatriotic.
“These were narratives on the floor of the house which we consider to be most unfair to investors in the cement sector, especially when the perspectives of the cement manufacturers had not been heard by the members of the house.”
Muda yusuf said, cement manufacturers were disparaged, denigrated and portrayed as deliberately inflicting pain on the Nigerians by arbitrarily increasing the price of cement.
The commentaries represented negative signal for an economy seeking to industrialise, attract investors and create jobs.
The CEO said stakeholders of Cement manufacturers Should be allowed to tell their own side of the story before members could come to a fair conclusion and judgement.
“It added, “But regrettably, they have been judged publicly, before giving them the opportunity to present their own side of the story. We believe this is a breach of the norms and standards of fairness and equity.
“The business of manufacturing is perhaps the most challenging enterprise in the contemporary Nigerian economy. Many foreign firms in that space have either exited the country or downsized their operations.”
