FCCPC Now Better Than I Met it—Irukera

By Adedapo Adesanya

The immediate past Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), Mr Babatunde Irukera, has relished his time at the agency, saying he is leaving behind a strong institutional advocate.

On Monday, President Bola Tinubu sacked Mr Irukera after six years at the helm of the consumers’ protection agency.

Mr Irukera said he was grateful for the opportunity to have served the Nigerian consumer, according to a post on the social media platform, X, formerly known as Twitter.

The dismissed chief executive was appointed in 2017 by former President Muhammadu Buhari as the Director General of the Consumer Protection Council, which later became FCCPC.

“[I am] grateful for the opportunity to have served the incredibly vibrant and loyal Nigerian citizens/consumers. They deserve a better deal. I leave behind a strong institutional advocate in the FCCPC and an outstanding team of soldiers who work there daily for the cause of fair markets,” he said.

According to him, in 2023, the commission generated over N56 billion, where 90 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was obtained through payment of penalties by defaulting companies in the country.

He disclosed that the FCCPC remitted N22.4 billion to the federal government.

“In 2023, our internally generated revenue is already N56 billion and we have remitted to the government N22.4 billion and for me what this demonstrates is the real possibility for our country. Our possibilities are absolutely limitless.

“We don’t approve a single product, we don’t take fees for registration of anything nor support or sponsorship from companies.

“All our revenue, at least 90 per cent is from penalties. We believe that the market should be unlocked and businesses should be allowed to operate well and thrive.

“But we also believe in consequence and businesses must be held accountable, if we don’t hold people accountable, we can’t promote good behaviour.

“Prior to 2017, the FCCPC had a budget of N1 billion from the federal government, of this amount, N511 million was personal costs and salaries of 240 employees at the time.

“What was released was N796 million. Our internally generated revenue was N154 million.

“In 2018, the agency had a huge jump in the budget from the treasury and it got a budget of N3.3 billion that is largest, of which N2.1 billion was released.

“By 2019, the budget of the agency went back from N3.3 billion down to N1.3 billion. Out of that, N518 million was personnel cost.

“In that year, when we started the reforms, the agency made a total Internally generated revenue of N377 million, which was unprecedented as the highest at the time. But we were growing the agency as best as we could,” he said.