The Director General of Consumer Protection Council (CPC) Imo state, Hon. Mrs Obioma Okafor has advised the public to support the council in its fight against fake and adulterated products being produced and marketed in the state.
Obioma stated this during the 2022 world Consumer Right Day celebration that took place at the council with the theme “Fair Digital Finance”.
She disclosed that consumers have the right to demand for refund, repair or replacement of any goods that is fake, expired, adulterated and unwholesome. She maintained that people should check for products before buying them if they are adulterated or expired.
According to Okafor, there are some certain things to consider before purchasing any product such as checking the prices of products before buying, stating that if a product that should be higher in price is brought so low or becomes cheaper, it calls for an alarm, also the packaging, and where someone is buying the product is a determinant factor.
She maintained that there are products that ordinarily should be sold in shopping malls or supermarkets, seeing them been sold in obscure places is suspicious.
She further encouraged people to report any case of short change to CPC for necessary actions to be taken and observed that there is need for a fair digital finance as she disclosed that there are compliant of overbilling and shortchange in transactions by some financial institutions and POS operators stating that such issues are also being tackled by the council.
She urged the masses to report any activity in their neighborhood that is not in the best interest of consumers and embibe the 3S mantra and CPC will solve it”. She posited that the council will not divulge the identities of individual who filed a report and will also provide an incentive to that effect.
Highpoint of the event was a Debate organized by CPC in collaboration with IMSUBEB for primary school pupils titled “Unwholesome products: who is to be blamed, producer or consumer”. the DG further disclosed that the essence of involving School children is to create awareness in their minds regarding the consumption of fake products and also to use them to propagate the message to their various homes.
The DG furthermore thanked their partners and sponsors for making the occasion a successful one. Some of the pupils who won different prices at the event expressed thanks to the organizers and promised to keep making the state proud.
In his reaction, the Executive Secretary of IMSUBEB, Hon. Chidiebere Egbo disclosed that the performance of the pupils is an indication that CPC and the schools are making great impacts in the academic- social integration of the younger generation. He thanked the teachers for making the pupils the ideal citizens of Imo state and prayed God to crown their efforts with success.
