Flour Mills had suspended sugar sales since the government had refused the 2022 raw sugar allotment, according to BUA Foods in an adorial published on Monday.

Dangote Sugar was also accused of suspending sales of the commodity in order to create scarcity and drive up prices.

Dangote Sugar, on the other hand, condemned BUA’s assertion as fake in a press statement released on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday.

It said, “In compliance with the requirements of the Rulebook of the Nigerian Exchange Limited, DSR wishes to strongly refute the allegations and assertions in their entirety as these false allegations may mislead the market and may give an undue competitive edge to BUA.”

“We believe this behaviour exhibited by BUA is worrisome and appears to conflict with the anti-competition rules. Last year, just before the commencement of Ramadan (the Islamic holy month of fasting), BUA made similar false allegations against the company that it was engaged in ‘price-fixing’ and not honestly pursuing the Backward Integration Project.

“In response to this, we published a press release to refute the false allegations and made a formal complaint to the Anti-Competition Commission. Another formal complaint was made to the commission on February 14, 2022, and we await their actions to address the situation.”

Dangote Sugar said it has continued to deliver sugar to fulfill market demand in line with its plan.

In a statement, Flour Mills stated that the company had no outstanding compliance concerns with the National Sugar Development Council, which was validated by the council’s most recent raw sugar allocation for 2022.

“On the contrary, we have been adjudged as the best performing Backward Integration Program,” the company said, adding, “The assertion by BUA Foods on the supposed suspension of sugar sales by FMN based on compliance issues is incorrect and indeed capable of creating a false impression in the market, which is contrary to the interest of consumers.”