The Chairman of Ogu/Bolo Local Government Council, Barrister Vincent Nemieboka, last Wednesday, received the Rivers State Commissioner of Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Dr Alpheaus Paul-Worika, during a courtesy visit in his office at the council secretariat in Ogu.
Speaking while welcoming the delegation to Ogu, Nemieboka commended the choice of Paul-Worika as the Rivers State commissioner of PCC for two tenures because of his outstanding qualities as a defender of the people.
The chairman said owing to the importance of the PCC, he would be glad to provide an office space for them and also furnish the office.
He also promised to support PCC in any way he can to see that it succeeds.
In his response, the Rivers State Commissioner, PCC, Dr Alpheaus Paul-Worika said the visit was part of the commission’s official tour of local government areas in Rivers State to aquatint the chairmen on the functions of the commission.
He noted that Ogu/Bolo was the second LGA to have been visited after Port Harcourt City Local Government.
The commissioner said the PCC, was domiciled in the National Assembly so that the people can have access to it.
He added that the primary aim of the Ombudsman institution was to see that people, especially the downtrodden, can raise complaints where they feel aggrieved, where there are issues of injustice and get remedy.
According to him, the PCC by law is supposed to look into every conflict that bothers principally on administrative injustice in the federal, state and local government.
“It has a very wide scope of jurisdiction but it has been observed that people, especially in the rural areas, have not been talking advantage of it despite being decentralised and in place like Bori, Ahoada, Degema, Okrika and Port Harcourt”.
Part of the agenda of the commission and the body of state commissioners, Paul-Worika said, was to take PCC to all LGAs in the federation so that people can have access and take advantage of the services of PCC.
He said that the PCC was saddled with the responsibility of building the confidence of the people on the government system so that whatever grievance they have can be trusted be fairly resolved.
He said the PCC’s desire was to have zonal talk-shops with a view to achieving the needed support of the chairmen.
Highlight of the event was the presentation of a copy of the Public Complaints Act to the Ogu/Bolo LGA chairman by the state PCC commissioner.
The state PCC commissioner was accompanied on the visit by some staff of the commission in Rivers State.