Why we could not sustain the N3, 500 per bag cement as promised-BUA

By allcitynews.ng

The Executive Director  of BUA cement has responded against the 7-day ultimatum given to the management following the N3,500 per bag of cement by Civil Society.

In response to the planned picketing of BUA cement office over the inability of the company to actualize its promise to crash price of cement to sell at N3, 500, the company said it actually fulfil that pledge.

Reacting to a question from one of the journalists during the media briefing, the Executive Director, Kabir Rabiu explained that the company actually sold cement at N3, 500 ex-factory for months before it stopped.

He reiterated that “we actually sold our cement at N3, 500 for three to four months. We thought other players in the cement industry would join us in making price of cement affordable for Nigerians.”

According to Kabir, BUA could not continue with the N3, 500 sales as both the middlemen and wholesale agents did not allow the end-users who were the main targets for the reduction to benefit from the N3, 500 price.

Similarly, Kabir emphasised that though 90 per cent of raw materials for cement production are locally sourced, yet the production cost which includes rising exchange rate coupled with electricity generation did not encourage BUA to sustain the N3,500 for long.  Another determinant is the fluctuating Naira/Dollar rate which is affect the market.

It would be recalled that a Civil Society Group, early this week, gave the management of BUA 7-day ultimatum within which to meet its demand or face the consequences.

The group made up of members of Advocacy for Good Governance and Rumen Royal Foundation, cited the failure of BUA to sell its cement as it publicly promised as reason for their ultimatum.

The heads of Advocacy for Good Governance, Comrade Dr Bartholomew Okoudo and Executive Director, Rumen Royal Foundation, Patience Okhuahensuyi, also called on the management of BUA to come out with public apology for ‘misleading Nigerians’ when it announced that price of its cement will be sold for N3, 500 whereas its cement is being sold at N10,000 per bag.

Okoudo and Okhuahensuyi stated that “We are greatly concerned and are calling on BUA Group to desist from these shameful efforts at vainglory which is causing a lot of discomfort and pains to the Nigerian people, who deserve empathy in the face of excruciating hardship in the country, and not these grandstanding and self-serving actions that only exacerbate the situation.

“Regulatory agencies must rein in BUA Group and ensure it stops its false posturing and endless deception of unsuspecting members of the Nigerian public.”

Reiterating the duo called on BUA management to live by its word, saying: “the false declaration by the BUA Group led to very serious consequences for Nigerians, particularly operators within the building and construction industry, as most of them who went for loans in banks to build structures, were disappointed when they realised that BUA cement is now N10,000 instead of N3, 500.

The duo said they wondered why the BUA Group renaged on its promise to the new government in less than six months of the regime.

Furthermore, they also accused the BUA Group of misleading President Tinubu by gaving him wrong information, which would have inadvertently led to some faulty policies at the federal level, stressing that such was akin to throwing banana peels on the path of the president.

The Civil Society Who had blamed BUA management for not selling its cement at N3, 500, promised to organise a protest and ground the company’s business activities at the expiration of its 7-ultimatum.

“Failure to comply within these seven days, BUA Group will be hearing the next line of action from our organization.”