Mrs. Atoki said this recently at a public hearing organised by the House Committee on Commerce for the amendment of the 1992 Act. While appraising the specific definition of consumer rights in the proposed document, she said, “The provisions are capable of tackling consumer abuses arising from on-line marketing would prevent internet fraud and identity theft, which have become endemic. These are completely lacking in the Council’s existing legislation.”
Mrs. Atoki who recalled the council’s earlier efforts at reviewing the bill in 2003, noted that its presentation to the house committee’s public hearing was a harmonized version of the two bills presented by two members of the house and its own before the Senate. “For the first time in Nigeria certain specific rights of consumers are defined for codification,” she added.
In his remarks, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, said the bill, when passed into law will correct many of the weaknesses inherent in the current legislation, hindering the effective performance of the council.
