The House of Representatives has promised to intervene in the cement hike price.
The Speaker of the House, Hon Tajudeen Abbas, disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at a public hearing on the investigation of the perennial rise in the cost of cement in Nigeria.
Earlier, the House Committee on Solid Minerals expressed worries that its review of cement prices in other countries like Kenya, India and Zambia for 2021 alone showed that Nigeria has the highest price of cement using the official exchange rates for each country.
It’s against this background that the House’s intervention has become imperative.
Abbas lamented that the high cost of cement had had negative impacts on not only the construction sector but also the nation’s economy.
While restating the House’s commitment to intervening in the situation, he said:
“Let me assure you that the parliament is working hard in putting the right legislation to help promote and encourage industrialisation as well as small and medium enterprises in place.
“We are equally open and willing to work hand in hand both with manufacturers and the end users. This, in our belief, is the surest way to improve the quality of life and standard of living of the citizens.
“We are equally leaving no stone unturned to put the right laws in place that could help checkmate the avoidable excesses that brought us to where we are.”
”It is in public knowledge that the housing deficit in Nigeria is over 3 million. For the government and the private sector to close the huge gap, the price of cement must be affordable and within reach,” he added.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee on Solid Minerals, Jonathan Gaza, assured that the public hearing was not a witch-hunt but to find lasting solutions to the problem.
