Victor Ezeja
Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc has debunked an allegation making the round in various media platforms that it has suspended sale of sugar in order to create artificial scarcity and cause increase in price of the product across the country.
In a statement issued in Wednesday, signed by Mrs. Temitope Hassan, the company Secretary, it said a certain newspaper and several online media channels ran a publication emanating from BUA Foods Plc which alleged that it did that to make more profit and blackmail the Federal Government to review the denial of allocations to another competitor due to compliance issues.
The company said it has been supplying sugar to meet market demands, noting that such allegation was uncalled for as it was capable of misleading members of the public and give an undue competitive advantage to BUA.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIt further pointed out that such act appears to be in conflict with anti-competition rules, noting that BUA had embarked on such smear campaign last when the company alleged that it was engaged in price-fixing instead of embarking on backward integration project.
The statement reads in part: “In compliance with the requirements of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, DSR wishes to strongly refute the allegations and assertions in their entirety as these false allegations may mislead the market and may give an undue competitive edge to BUA.
“We believe this behaviour exhibited by BUA is worrisome and appears to conflict with the anti-competition rules. Last year, just before the commencement of the Ramadan (the Islamic holy month of fasting), BUA made similar false allegations against the Company that it was engaged in price-fixing and not honestly pursuing the Backward Integration Project. In response to this, we published a press release (published on the Issuers’ Portal on April 14, 2021) to refute the false allegations and made a formal complaint to the Anti-Competition Commission.
It said that it has lodged another formal complaint to the Anti-Competition Commission on February 14, 2022 and awaits their actions to address the situation.
“In line with our plan, we have continued to supply Sugar to meet the market’s demand and have made the necessary supply chain and logistics investments/arrangements to ensure there are no risks to our ability to meet the current market demands.
“Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc. remains the highest Sugar supplier in the market today, with over 1.44m MT installed capacity at our Apapa Refinery and we are the only company producing sugar from own grown sugarcane under the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) at the Numan operations in Yola, Adamawa State.
“We remain committed to fair play and good governance and would continue to supply Sugar to the market without interruptions,” the statement added.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
