The President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawal has assured Public Complaints Commission (PCC) of the readiness of the 9th Assembly to strengthen it for effective discharge of its mandate.
Lawal said this while receiving the Honourable Chief Commissioner and other Commissioners who paid him a courtesy visit on Monday in his office at the National Assembly.
The Senate President who acknowledged the Commission as one of the institutions supervised by the National Assembly regretted the financial challenges presently faced by the Commission and pledged that the National Assembly will improve the financial situation considering its importance.
He urged the Commission to strengthen its synergy with the other Government agencies and the media, most especially the Government media in order to obtain minimal charges for publicity.
Lawal also drew the attention of the management of the Commission to the need to train and retrain the staff to ensure efficiency in the discharge of their duties.
Earlier in his address, the Hon. Chief Commissioner of PCC, Hon. Chille Igbawua said that his visit was to congratulate the Senate President and members of his team and pledge the Commission’s readiness to work closely with them to ensure social justice and good governance for all Nigerians.
The Hon. Chief Commissioner further said the Commission is committed to ensuring best administrative practices in the country but is being hindered by certain challenges.
He listed the challenges to include inadequate funding, inadequate office accommodation especially in the states and shortage of operational vehicles among others.
On the need for more visibility for the Commission, Hon. Igbawua emphasised that the Commission is doing all its best to publicize its activities within its limited resources and said the Commission is currently engaging with media houses, social media platforms as well as publications to enlighten members of the public on its activities and mandate.
The Nigerian Ombudsman disclosed that since his assumption of Office a year ago, he has been working hard to strengthen the relationship between the Commission with National and International Agencies as well as civil Society organizations in order to widen the horizon of the Commission.
He used the opportunity to inform the Senate President of the forthcoming Ombudsman Expo which will be hosted by the Commission before the end of this year, 2019.
Eric Emeghara
15th July, 2019