TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari says the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) is the best agency to implement the federal government’s whistleblowing policy.

According to a statement by Garba Shehu, presidential spokesperson, Buhari said this on Friday at a meeting with a PCC delegation led by Abimbola Ayo-Yusuf, chief commissioner of PCC, in Abuja.

The policy was launched in 2016 as part of efforts to combat corruption.

Currently, the federal ministry of finance is implementing the policy.

Speaking on Friday, Buhari said the commission is the best to implement the policy because of its network of offices across the country.

“I want to assure you that the commission would be considered as the agency where the policy will be domiciled given your widespread network of offices, and the fact that your mandate on referral of complaints with criminal contents to appropriate law enforcement agencies make your commission the best suited agency for domiciling whistleblowing policy of the federal government,” the president said.

“The Public Complaints Commission is an ombudsman institution set up in 1975. The reason for its establishment by its founding fathers was to bridge the gap between the government and the governed and between the big man and the little man.

“It was designed to act as a bastion of justice for the ‘little man’ who has no one or place to turn to for relief, just as it was conceived by the Swedes who originated it.

“The mandate of the commission is to principally attend to complaints by members of the public concerning the administrative action of any authority and companies or their officials.

“This fits into this administration’s policies of restoring transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption and all forms of administrative injustice.

“I, therefore, promise to assist the commission to provide the needed tools and infrastructure to strengthen and empower it to perform effectively.”

On his part, Ayo-Yusuf thanked Buhari for looking into the commission’s challenges.

“Your excellency, these life-changing approvals are unprecedented in the history of governance in this country,” he said.

“Hence, as a commission with the responsibility to arbitrate and resolve public concerns, we deeply appreciate your support so far in solving the most sensitive issues that had bedeviled the commission for a long time.

“We are able to secretly receive, investigate, process and refer cases from whistleblowers to relevant agencies for further investigation and prosecution while protecting the whistleblower.”