NAN, Public Complaints Commission collaborate to boost awareness, address administrative corruption
Collaboration
By Kate Obande-Okewu
Abuja, July 3, 2018 (NAN) The Public Complaints Commission (PCC) is collaborating with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) to boost awareness on the activities of the commission and address administrative corruption in the country.
Mr Chille Igbawua, Chief Commissioner PCC, at a courtesy visit on the Managing Director NAN, Mr Bayo Onanuga on Tuesday in Abuja, said that the collaboration would encourage citizens to report their cases without fear.
Igbawua said that the 2016 Annual Report showed that the commission received 35,000 reports, adding that the figure was poor compared to the population of the country.
He added that the commission had received 2,000 reports now and had resolved 200 of the cases, attributing the low number of reports to poor publicity and awareness.
“ We are an anti-corruption agency, dealing with administrative corruption which has more devastating effect on the citizens directly than financial corruption.
“ Our service is essentially to the low persons in Nigeria, who do not have the means to adjudicate their cases, so we offer justice for free.
“ We know your territorial coverage and that you are the source of news to other news agencies. We need to get to the people so that they can know how to get to us and where to get to us.
“We believe that if we collaborate with you we will be able to get through to those who are supposed to be served,’’ Igbawua said.
The commissioner expressed optimism over the collaboration, saying that reports would increase by 300 per cent after the sensitisation.
He added that lack of adequate fund was the major hindrance to PCC’s job.
In his response, Mr Onanuga congratulated the commissioner on his appointment and assured him of the agency’s support in creating the needed awareness for the public.
He added that the collaboration was long overdue as both organisations had similar functions of serving as middlemen between the public and the government.
“ This kind of collaboration should have been done a long time ago and PCC has not been doing much in terms of publicising its services.
“Many people don’t know that the commission is alive and doing what it is supposed to do.
“The collaboration you are seeking, NAN will give it to you, we will publicise what you are doing so that Nigerians whose rights are being trampled upon will know where to go,’’ Onanuga said.
The MD outlined the various NAN services that would be of benefit to the commission including the NAN PR Wire service, SMS platform and Newsroom ,adding that the photo portal was underway.
He also advised the commission to seek for international donors that could fund the activities of the commission since its job had to do with resolving injustice to citizens of the country. (NAN)
KTE/IA