Yemi Itodo
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has hailed the Public Complaints Commission for addressing disputes in the polity, decrying that the performance of the Nigerian Ombudsman is underreported.
Speaker Abbas made this known when the Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, led the leadership of the Nigerian Ombudsman on a courtesy visit to his office at the National Assembly Complex, in Abuja, on Wednesday.
The Public Complaints Commission is a statutory body under the National Assembly.
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At the meeting were the Majority Leader of the House, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere; Deputy Minority Leader, Hon. Aliyu Sani Madaki; Minority Whip, Hon. Ali Isa; and Chairman of the House Ad Hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Khadijat Bukar-Ibrahim.
Responding to the demands by the Chief Commissioner on issues affecting the PCC, the Speaker noted that he was aware of some challenges facing the commission, adding that the House was ready to assist the management in addressing them.
Speaker Abbas said: “The Public Complaints Commission is the people’s house because it is the only place where the common man can go and get redress. That is how we also refer to ourselves here. This is the people’s House where the common man can get redress on all issues that pertain to his endeavours.
“I want to use this opportunity to thank you and to appreciate you for all that you have been doing. I have been in the National Assembly for 12 years, so I am very familiar with what you have been doing over the years. You have been doing remarkably well.
“However, your performances, to me, are underreported. Only people like us who are within the system will be able to attest to what you are doing. I believe, with little publicity, people from outside the National Assembly will appreciate what you are doing.
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“So, I want to urge you to keep up with the good work; to keep the flag flying and try to enlighten the Nigerian people on what you do so that they will not only appreciate what you are doing, but they will also continue to identify with you and utilise your services to get redress whenever they need one.”
Earlier in his address, Ayo-Yusuf, on behalf of the Commissioners and staff of the PCC, congratulated the Speaker on his emergence as the Number 4 Citizen on June 13.
He said: “Sir, you have proven within the short period of your election as Speaker of this esteemed House of Representatives that you are indeed the people’s leader. Little wonder, your colleagues gracefully and overwhelmingly elected you as their first among equal.”
The PCC head used the visit to draw the attention of the Speaker “to the underfunding of the Commission and appeal to you to use your good offices to urgently influence the Commission’s request for special financial intervention to enable it pay the approved Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS) as well as accumulated promotion arrears of staff.”
According to Ayo-Yusuf, due to the inability of the PCC to pay these outstanding liabilities, the three trade unions in the Commission have recently become agitated and thier industrial action is capable of eroding the confidence that Nigerians have in the Commission’s ability to resolve their complaints.