By Meletus EZE
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has charged the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) to ensure Nigerians gets speedy justice delivery.
Dogara said this included Nigerians who could not afford the high cost and long process of the judicial system for resolving disputes.
The Speaker gave the charge on Wednesday, during a visit to his office in Abuja by the Commissioners of the Agency, led by the Chief Commissioner, Mr Chille Igbawua.
Dogara said the role of the commission as the ombudsman of Nigerians is an important one that must be discharged effectively.
He said it was more important, especially with the high cost of litigation in the nation’s courts and the entire justice system.
Dogara said the culture of ombudsman was a culture that was rooted in virtually all known democracies in the world.
According to him, most Nigerians will attest to the fact that litigation are very very expensive.
“In view of the fact that we have quite a huge population in this country, we have to ensure that we improve on the speed of justice delivery.
“As it is said, justice delayed is justice denied, in most cases, justice is indivisible; apart from the fact that they are expensive, once you kick-start the case within the Nigerian judicial system, only God knows when you will exit the case,” he said.
The house of reps helmsman said if citizens had other alternatives, they would adopt it.
The speaker said he was happy that the commission was stepping into the responsibility of addressing problems associated with judicial process.
Acknowledging that the commission was facing challenges related to funding, Dogara noted with displeasure that funding was a general challenge being faced in the country.
He urged the commission to synergise with the House Committee on Public Petitions so that some petitions that were referred to the house would be properly handled by the commission.
The speaker assured the commissioners that the National Assembly would continue to push for higher funding for the agency in view of the huge responsibility it had to dispense justice.
Earlier, in his remarks, the chief commissioner, Mr Chile Igbawua, said the commission had been able to resolve some problems that had been lingering and impeding the success of the agency.
Among others, he disclosed that all commissioners were now operating fully from their states unlike when they used to operate from Abuja.
He said sensitisation across the states was ongoing to make the people more aware of the functions of the agency.
The commissioner reported that it had led to more complaints being resolved free and justice dispensed.
He said the commission had designed strategies that would be put into immediate operation, plus welfare policy to boost the morale of the staff and increase productivity.
He added that an e-system to ensure faster receipt and dispensation of complaints and its tracking was in the works.
