Despite the agreement with manufacturers to sell cement at N7,000, the product is still being retailed for prices ranging between N10,000 and N11,000 in the Idimu area of Lagos state.

A retailer, simply identified as Alhaja, said the news that cement should sell for N7,000 is just a hoax.

According to her, Dangote blocked all payment portals while negotiations were on with the Federal Government, and by the time it was reopened, the price was hiked again.

She said: “Even BUA which was selling for N3,500 was the first to hike prices. In fact, the Dangote payment portal was blocked last week, only for them to reopen it and the price was increased by another N400. All the noise of N7,000 is just in the media, it’s not real.

“But we pray and hope it is effected soon enough because this price hike is really slowing down business.”

Another outlet did not have any stock on the ground. The owner, who pleaded for anonymity, corroborated Alhaja.

He said: “At this point, I don’t know what else to do. Cement is off-limit for now because I don’t even know how to restock. The N7,000 price being bandied in the news is unreal. The price was increased by N400 after manufacturers met with the government. We just hope things return to normal as soon as possible.”