Consumer protection: FG Inspects measurement instruments of Gombe, Bauchi Traders

By Najibillahi Adamu

The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trades and Investment has commenced annual surveillance of weights, measures, weighing instruments, measuring instruments and counting instruments in markets, shopping malls, gas and petroleum retail outlets in Gombe and Bauchi States.

The exercise, which began on Friday, is being carried out by the department of Weights and Measures of the ministry to ensure that buyers get value for their money.

Assistant Director in the ministry, Engineer Geoffrey Jwan, in company with the Zonal Coordinator of the department of Weights and Measures, Mr Isah Ahmed, addressed journalists in Gombe on the commencement of the exercise.

Jwan said the survey was aimed at getting first-hand information from the field from users of weighing and measuring instruments for trade and to create awareness on the right use of the instruments. 

“Weights are scales used for weighing products for sale. For example, cement, rice, flour, etc are packaged in standard sizes of 10, 25 and 50 kilograms,” he said.

“The department of weights and measures is the custodian of primary standards of the kilogram by which all measurements for trade using scales should be traced to for accuracy. 

“On the other hand, the measures are capacity measures used for measuring volumes of liquids and solids for sale. For examples, pumps used in filling stations, filling machines used in water and beverage bottling plants, the ‘mudu’ (indigenous measures) used for measuring grains in markets”

He added that weights and measures were listed on the exclusive legislation list of the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 1960, which led to the enactment of laws and 

regulations on the use of weights, measures, weighing, measuring and counting instruments for trade in 1962.

The ministry observed that most users of weighing and measuring instruments for trading are not aware of the salient provisions of the weights and measures act.

He urged them to buy instruments only from vendors who have obtained certificates of pattern approval from the department of weights and measures 

in line with regulation 76 to the act to avoid the use of substandard weights or measures, which will cause them to contravene certain provisions of the act.

This is even as the ministry threatened that it would deal decisively with persons who deliberately alter the settings of their instruments with the intention to cheat their customers.