Jeffrey Adaralegbe, Nigeria.

The Honourable Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission, Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf has emerged the Deputy Secretary General of the African Ombudsman and Mediators Association AOMA, warmly received by the Honourable Federal Commissioners and Management of the Commission on his return from Kigali, Boardroom News reports.

The PCC boss, Hon. Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf reportedly won his present position in a keenly contested election during the AOMA 7th General Assembly in Kigali, Rwanda on the 27th to 30th of November 2023; the Assembly with the Theme: Navigating Ethical Dilemmas in Mediation and Ombudsman Roles.

The New Deputy Secretary General’s role is to support the Secretariat to win more African Countries to register with the Association and to ensure full collaboration with other international and regional bodies.

The Chief Ombudsman of the Federation was said to have achieved this feat by the cooperation of his fellow counterparts from West African Sub-Region, Rwanda, and leaders of other sub regions who threw their weight behind his candidature during the election; recording that Nigeria was the West African Sub-Region Coordinator of AOMA from 2018 to 2023 and the countries that supported Nigeria’s emergence thought it wise for Nigeria to remain the strength of the Association in the region.

AOMA, founded in 2003 to support and protect the independence and development of the Ombudsman institutions in Africa to be achieved via promotion of information sharing and best practices for the advancement of good governance and human rights in Africa; an Association of 41 countries and 46 institutions member.

In Nigeria, the Public Complaints Commission is the Nation’s version of the Ombudsman institution established in 1975. The Nigerian Ombudsman therefore is part of a global and regional bodies from where it draws its strength and capacity to keep up with the global best practices.

“Let me state that the General Assembly afforded me the opportunity to interact with my counterparts from other African countries and to share information that would assist us transform the Commission for the better; the Assembly also reaffirmed the individual and collective willingness and commitment of Ombudsman and Mediators institutions to supporting the efforts of the African Union towards improving the rule of law, transparency, accountability in public Administration and contributing towards conflict free Africa”, He said.

According to the DSG, the just concluded General Assembly focused on promotions of dispute resolution through dialogue as a quick and friendly procedure, reinforcement of whistle blowing protection mechanism for encouraging reports of unethical practices, and strengthening the cooperation between Civil Society Organizations and Ombudsman institution for promotion of good governance among others.

“When a milestone such as this is reached, it is a good moment to reflect back on lessons learned, take a stock of where we are today and formulate a vision that will bring the common man close to the governance. Over the years the Public Complaints Commission, PCC in Nigeria has promoted good governance by ensuring best Administrative practices in MDAs and also has affected the lives of the citizenry by giving them hope and defending their rights. Its focus has broadened to include not just promoting good administration but also ensuring human rights and fighting corruption. Such broad coverage has caused transformation for the Commission adequate support to enable it perform effectively like its counterparts in other parts of the world”, Abimbola said.

He further urged all Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as the Private Sector and individuals to always cooperate with the Commission in its operations and to see it as a partner in progress, in the spirit of the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ mantra of the Mr. President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Gcfr towards ensuring proper service to Nigerians and to occupy a great deal in the comity of nations.

It was an unequivocal moment of appreciation for the Four Federal Commissioners, Secretary of the Commission, Hajiya Salamatu Jummai Mamma and other Management Staff who were present at the event as they expressed their deep unfathomable gratitude to the Honourable Chief Commissioner, Hon. Abimbola Ayo- Yusuf for his immense impactful and successful achievement he recorded with his performance for the Commission, they echoed individually that the emergence of the Hon. Abimbola as the Chief Commissioner of the Public Complaints Commission PCC, was not by accident but purely by merit of his performance as this was reconfirmed recently in Rwanda where AOMA dully appointed him as its Deputy Secretary General.

Congratulating him for the height attained, the Hon. Federal Commissioner of FCT, Hon. Dalhatu Ezekiel Musa said his indelible mark of performance would always speak for him, stating among his numerous accomplishments are: repositioning of Public Complaints Commission for better performance, change of narrative of PCC both systemic and operational on assumption of office as substantive Hon. Chief Commissioner, fantastic rebrand and repairs of the dilapidated Headquarters Office building, honours done to Commissioners with Official Vehicles, Operational Vehicles for Thirty Six States including the FCT, operational vehicles for Directors and Deputy Directors of the Commission, purchase of Office building for States Offices who were tenants, movement of FCT Office out of residential area of Sunnyvale Estate, solving issues of Arrears for members of staff; achieving all in just two years is highly commendable.

The Hon. Federal Commissioner of Ekiti State, Hon. Olukayode Bamisile made a toast as he prayed for the Nigerian Ombudsman, AOMA, the Hon. Chief Commissioner, and DSG, Hon. Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf.

The event was gracefully attended by the Hon. Federal Commissioner of Kaduna State, Hon. Abdullahi Garba Abbas, Hon. Federal Commissioner of Oyo State, Hon. Alhaji Folawiyo Bello, Hon. Federal Commissioner of Ekiti State, Hon. Olukayode Bamisile, Hon. Federal Commissioner of FCT, Hon. Dalhatu Ezekiel Musa, the Secretary of the Commission, Hajiya Salamatu Jummai Mamma, Directors and members of the Nigerian Press amongst others.