Home News Cement Price Hike Contributing To Building Collapse Incidents – Reps, COREN

Cement Price Hike Contributing To Building Collapse Incidents – Reps, COREN

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The growing number of building collapse incidents in Nigeria has been attributed to the capricious increase in cement prices, according to Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).

He made this declaration on Monday during the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Solid Minerals, Industry, Commerce, and Special Duties’ investigation into the price rise.

He said that the country’s infrastructure standards were lowered as a result of the price hike.


He said, “You will agree with me, that is one of the key culprits of building collapse. I am trying to connect the hike of price of cement with the standardization in our building and the direct connection of building collapse. Clearly, there is a connection with that and I think this something we must interrogate.”

Speaking, Rep. Jonathan Gaza Gbwefi Gbewfi, the Chairman of the Joint Committee, concurred with the COREN President’s claim that there is a direct correlation between the cost of cement and both an increase in tenancy rates and building collapse.

The committee’s chairman alleged that the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria was undermining the investigation into the arbitrary increase in cement prices in the nation by leveraging a court injunction.
This came about as a result of the association chairman declining two requests to appear before the committee.

Thus, the committee issued a warning to the association to refrain from interfering with or halting the House’s continuing investigation through pointless court injunctions.

Rep. Gbewfi said the failure of the cement manufacturers to appear before the committee was an affront to the powers of the National Assembly.

He threatened sanctions in accordance with the law if he failed to show up at the next hearing.

The joint committee also lambasted  representatives of the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NIBRID) and the Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Council (FCCPC) on the arbitrary price increase in Cement price.

He told the representative of the Chief Executive Officer of the FCCPC Ms Boladale Adeyinka that the agency had not done enough to protect the consumers of cement in line with the provisions of its establishment Act.

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