The office of the Ombudsman and Public Complaints in Abia State has urged the public whose rights have been bruised, to forward their petitions to the Ombudsman and get justice.
The Ombudsman to the Abia State Governor, Justice Kyrian Nwankpa (Rted) who stated this in his office in Umuahia on Thursday, said that his office is ready to entertain complaints from aggrieved and shortchanged members of the public who are seeking justice.
He assured that the office has the express mandate of Governor Alex Otti to investigate and do justice to every matter brought before it, free of charge.
Rtd Justice Nwankpa said that the Ombudsman/Public Complaints Office was established by the administration of Governor Alex Otti to ensure that no member of society, especially the less privileged who may not have resources to prosecute their matters in court is marginalized.
“Members of the public, especially the most vulnerable, the grassroots who cannot move very high up to complain about breeches meted out to them, they come to the Ombudsman office, especially with a petition and then it becomes the function of the ombudsman to look into the petition and get in touch with those stated in the petition to have violated their rights and investigate whether what they stated is correct and if so make the necessary recommendation”
While noting that the office has not been in existence before now, the retired Judge said that the office upon assumption has been able to entertain about 15 petitions and has also gone ahead to investigate the same with a view to ensuring Justice through recommendations to the Governor.
He, however, said all petitions must be written and not oral, adding that his office requires facts to produce the right results even as he said that every case before it would get attention, no matter the personality of the respondents.