Section 7: Hoarding.

(1) If-
(a) a person carrying on a business in the course of which controlled commodities of any description are normally sold has in his possession in the course of that business a stock of controlled commodities of that description; and
(b) that person, or any person employed by him to sell goods in the course of that business, when asked by any other person (referred to in this section as "the buyer") to sell any controlled commodity of that description or whether he or, as the case may be, his employer has any such commodity for sale-
(i) refuses to sell the commodity in question, or denies that he (or, as the case may be, his employer) has the commodity, or uses any words or gives any other indication calculated to lead the buyer to suppose that he (or, as the case may be, his employer) has not got the commodity or will not or cannot sell it; or
(ii) offers to sell the commodity subject to a condition requiring the buying of any other goods (whether controlled commodities or not) or the making of any payment in respect of any service, or subject to any other condition except delivery within a reasonable time,
the person carrying on the business shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) of this section in respect of any controlled commodity to prove that the sale of the commodity, or the sale of the commodity without the fulfillment of a condition proposed by him or his employee, would, having regard to the quantity of the commodity which he or his employee was requested to sell or any other consideration, involve a breach of some written and duly stamped contractual obligation lawfully binding on him, which obligation must be to an approved institution.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, an "approved institution" means a hospital, school, educational institution, statutory corporation or any department or agency of the Government of the Federation or of a State.
(4) Where a person is convicted of an offence under subsection (1) of this section in respect of any controlled commodity of any description-
(a) he shall-
(i) in the case of an individual, be sentenced to imprisonment for not less than six months without the option of a fine; and
(ii) in the case of a body corporate be sentenced to a fine of not less than N5,000; and
(b) the stock of controlled commodities shall be liable to forfeiture.
(5) Where a person is convicted of any offence under this section in respect of any commodity the court shall make an order forfeiting the stock of the commodity; and where such an order is made, the commodity shall be disposed of by the Board as it thinks fit, any proceeds of the disposal being paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.
(6) Where proceedings under subsection (1) of this section do not result in conviction the court shall make an order for the disposal at the controlled price of any commodity to which the proceedings relate and the proceeds of such disposal shall be applied as follows-
(a) ninety per cent of the proceeds shall be paid to the owner of the commodity;
(b) the remaining ten per cent shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.