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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), yesterday, sealed a real estate company, The Paradise, in Abuja.
FCCPC enforcement officers led by the Deputy Director, Surveillance and Investigation, Marvin Nadah, carried out the enforcement following the expiration of grace period provided by the FCCPC for an explanation regarding some client-related issues.
Speaking to journalists after the enforcement, Mr. Nadah explained that the exercise was in compliance with Section 150 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018..
He said: “We received numerous complaints from subscribers of the estate about the double standards of the real estate firm. Some of the subscribers said they have completed payment for a particular property for over three years, and the property has not been handed over to them by the estate owners despite several efforts.
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“We did our due diligence in line with our laws. We followed the guidelines. We issued a compliance notice on February 24 this year to the estate owners in that regard. We directed the company, The Paradise Estate, to handover the property that these clients have paid for, for over three years, without getting value, or without having the property they had paid for. But that has not been done. Ideally, they had seven days to comply, but they failed to do that since February. This is three months later.”
He said that sealing the Paradise Estate offices in Abuja was the last option left after several other efforts had been made to ensure the subscribers get value for their money.
He also said the FCCPC searchlight was on all individuals or companies rendering any form of service to people, insisting that adequate value should be provided for payment received.
“Yes, there are numerous other complaints. But, investigative work is ongoing. We are looking at the sector generally, and specifically on the complaints that are before us,” he added.
