Abstract
Good governance requires that public
institutions and officers who are entrusted with the function of providing
services to citizens operate within the ambit of the law and public service
code of conduct. As a protective device against unscrupulous officers, the
institution of Public Complaints Commission (PCC) has been established in many
countries, with Sweden pioneering the policy initiative in 1809. In Nigeria,
PCC was established in 1975, with the major responsibility to investigate
complaints of abuse of powers by public officers, given the rising cases of
corruption and indiscipline. The central research problem of this study is that
previous studies failed to implicate the performance of the role and functions
of PCC in selected local government areas in Edo State, Nigeria. As a
corollary, the main object of the study is to examine public perception of the
performance of PCC, in selected local government areas in Edo State, Nigeria.
Underpinned by Structural Functionalism, the study is descriptive; and employed
primary survey in which data were gathered with a questionnaire. The data were
presented in frequency tables and analysed with a simple percentage tool. Key
among the findings were the relative “extinction” of PCC in the study-Areas;
and the concomitant “deprivation” of the citizens of the essential services of
the institution. It was therefore, recommended that PCC should maintain a wider
and stronger presence in the study Areas, and across Nigeria, through vigorous
public enlightenment; while the Federal Government should strengthen the scope
and powers of the agency, through constitutional reforms, for effective
performance, as it is in Sweden.
Keywords: Good Governance, Ethical Code, Public Complaints, Public Officers, Abuse of Powers
author/Umar E. Mahmud, Yakubu S. Ibrahim & Isah I. Salisu
journal/FUJPAM Vol. 2, No. 1
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