The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lift the ban on Ibeto cement and reduce the cost of cement in the country.

The group made this known in a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful on Friday morning.

IPOB noted that BUA and Dangote cements have been favoured by the Nigerian government, saying that Ibeto group was selling cement at a very low price.

The group said: “Back then, prices of cement and other building materials were very affordable because of competition. Even civil and public servants with low minimum wages were able to build houses.

“But as soon as Ibeto and others were pushed out of business the price of cement started soaring out of the reach of the common man. Currently, a bag of cement is sold for almost N12,000, while 12mm of iron rod is sold at N13,000.

“These prices are outrageous because capitalists have the backings of the government through monopoly to reap people off. If care is not taken, many Nigerians will become homeless in the next five (5) years, while the capitalists will keep making more money.

“How can a country with over 200 million people allow only two companies to monopolize cement business in Nigeria? Since Dangote and BUA can’t help reduce the price of cement and other building materials, someone like Ibeto group with the capacity to bring down the price of cement should be given back his license to enter back into the Nigerian building materials market.

“If Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, is interested in reducing the strangling price of cement and other building materials, he should contact Ibeto and other patriotic company owners of building materials for help immediately. Ibeto group has the capability to crash the price of cement and other building materials in Nigeria. President Tinubu should lift the ban on Ibeto cement so that he can freely compete with Dangote and BUA cement.

“In conclusion, if President Bola Almed Tinubu is interested in curtailing the soaring price of cement, he should reverse the policy of Olusegun Obasanjo and bring back Ibeto cement into the Nigerian market.”

A 50 kilograms bag of cement in the Federal Capital Territory has surged to between N10,000 and N15,000.

A market survey conducted on Friday by DAILY POST in Gwarimpa, Area 10, Kubwa, Lugbe and Dawaki showed that a 50kg bag of Dangote cement is N10,000 and other competitors’ cement stood at N15,000.

A retailer in Gwarimpa, Yinka Adebayo, said that the price of Dangote cement is N10,000 while that of another competitor is N15,000.

He said he sold a bag of cement for N6,000 in January 2023.

“We sell Dangote cement at N10,000 per bag, and another is N15,000. Unfortunately, it will surprise you that I sold the same bag of cement, N5,500 to N6000, last month,” he said.

Similarly, Rukiyat Abdullahi, a retailer in Kubwa, said Dangote cement is sold for N10,200 while another brand goes for N16,000.

“Dangote is now N10,200 while its competitors goes for N16,000 per bag”, she said.

At Lugbe, the retailers confirmed that Dangote and other cement prices are N10,000 and N15,000, respectively.

Meanwhile, Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Musa Dangiwa decried the astronomical rise in the price of cement and other building materials across the country.

He said the price hike was unacceptable and insisted the fluctuation in the exchange rate of the dollar could not be blamed.

For more than five months, the Cement Producers Association of Nigeria cautioned Cautioned Tunubu’s government plan to introduce concrete roads could increase cement prices to N9,000 per bag.

The development comes amid a continued soar in Nigeria’s inflation. The National Bureau of Statistics, in its Consumer Price Index report for January, said inflation soared to 29.90 per cent.

A developer in Karu confirmed that cement price had risen to N13,000.

In Enugu, cement is said to be at N13,000 as well.

“Cement now selling at N13,000.00 in Enugu,” The Chief Executive Officer, Land Repblic, Dr Victor Adegbile, disclosed.

Real estate developers have also corroborated the concerning increase, observing that a 50kg bag of cement is being sold at retail prices ranging from N9,000 to N10,000 in areas such as Lagos, Adamawa, Ondo, Oyo State, among others.

The development has affected the prices of sandcrete blocks, forcing block makers to review their prices from N450 to N500 for a six-inch block and N600 from N550 for a nine-inch block.

Further findings showed that prices of sand, nails, roofing sheets, window and door frames, wood, iron rods and many more had also hit the rooftop with suppliers blaming foreign exchange, transport, and logistics costs.

A 10mm iron rod that used to cost N520,000 has increased to N550,000 while a trailer load of granite now costs N47,000 with transportation.

Accordingly, labour prices have gone up, with artisans that earlier charged between N3,500 to N4,000 per day last year, now charging N9,000 depending on the location.

Another factor influencing these charges is the transportation costs incurred to reach the construction site.

Speaking on the current situation, the Chief Executive Officer of Samak Properties and Development Company Limited, Sam Akanbi, lamented the increase, stressing that the surge in the prices of building materials had forced project owners to review contract conditions.

He added that the situation had forced insolvent developers to stop work or continue construction at a loss.

Akanbi said, “About three weeks ago, I bought cement for a small project at the cost of N5,000 but now, the same product currently sells for N8,200 and that is even depending on where you get them. And we are getting reports that the price is not likely to come down soon.”

Decrying the situation in a post on the Housing Development Advocacy Group, the Chief Executive Officer, Octo5 Holdings Limited, Babajide Odusolu, said, “A greater cause of concern to me is the insane spike in reinforcement prices. It galloped from 600k per tonne to N980,000 per tonne within two weeks.

“Unless we urgently innovate and redesign lightweight buildings, we risk higher levels of building collapse as cutting corners will soon be redefined as a survival strategy.”

Meanwhile, In an exclusive interview with Sunday PUNCH, the Managing Director, Fame Oyster & Co. Nigeria, Femi Oyedele, said the present increment in the price of cement was not sustainable.

He asserted, “There will be a reduction in the price of cement very soon. However, an incessant increase in the price of cement will bring in unemployment for the artisans and tradesmen working on construction sites as most clients and contractors will pause their projects. Increase in the price of cement will cause lower construction to start and eventually cause homelessness to some people.

“The 28 million units housing deficit will increase, rental and capital values (sale prices) of existing houses will increase. Those property marketers who have been struggling to sell their houses will get buyers for the houses due to high cost of construction.

“In conclusion, I see the government issuing import licences to business men to import cement because the government consumes a lot of cement for its projects. The ridiculous increase cannot be accommodated with contingencies provision in the bill of quantities.”

In addendum, the Federal Government through the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development has initiated a meeting with cement and building materials manufacturing but it remains to be seen if the discussion would yield results on the price of the essential materials.

Similarly, the Minister for Works, David Umahi, has scheduled a meeting with cement manufacturers to address the increasing cost of cement and the disparities between the factory price and the market price.