Kwara: Public Complaints Commission receives 2,567 complaints in 2024

The Public Complaints Commission (PCC), also known as the Nigerian Ombudsman, said it received a total number of 2,567 complaints of various dimensions from members of the public in Kwara state in 2024.

Speaking with journalists on the 50 years of existence of the commission in Ilorin, the state commissioner of the agency, Olanrewaju Falola, also said that over 1,500 complaints had been received so far in 2025.

Falola, who said that the commission prides itself with free provision of legal representatives in disputes, especially for the poor, added that the Ombudsman has become a global beacon of justice, “which reminds us that justice must never be a privilege for the few, but a right for all”.

Among other services, the commissioner said that PCC has effected redress for ordinary citizens, who otherwise have no easy or affordable access to courts, “ensuring that the marginalized, poor, or socially vulnerable can bring complaints”.

He, however, identified paucity of fund as major obstacle of the commission in meeting some of its objectives, adding that the commission needs a more befitting building to operate in the state.

PCC boss, who said that the National Assembly was already working on amendment of the Act that established the commission, added that the amendment would make some resolutions reached by the commission to be better implemented.

He said that the PCC had touched humanity in Kwara state through life-changing interventions, such as

• Rescue from eviction: A widow and her children unjustly evicted were reinstated, restoring not just her rights but her dignity.

• Access to Education: Indigent students once denied their certificates for years had their future restored through PCC mediation. ( A case of NTI National Teachers Institute since 2018 – 2025).

• Rehabilitation of a whole secondary school upon the intervention of PCC.

• Aversion of religious crisis through the timely intervention of the PCC.

• Payment of gratuity and restoration of monthly pension through the intervention of PCC.

• Refund of N7million upon breach of contractual agreement at the intervention of the PCC.

• Restoration of power supply to a community after years of incessant power supply upon the intervention of the PCC.

• Payment of death benefits.

• Workers’ Rights: Employees unfairly dismissed had their entitlements secured, reinforcing the dignity of labour.

• Conversation of dismissal letter to voluntary resignation after Investigation by the PCC.

• Intervention of the PCC over a complaint lodged by a community against a company on environmental hazards and insisting on the removal of power station supply electricity to the company.

• Restoration of peace in an Islamic Village where a non-indigene operates a hotel which constituted nuisance and decadence in moral value in the community.

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