Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has urged the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) to prioritise enforcement of court judgments, warning that delays in complying with judicial decisions deny citizens the benefits of justice and weaken public confidence in the legal system.
Soyinka made the call in a goodwill message at the inaugural Nigerian Ombudsman Annual Conference, organised by the PCC in Abuja on Thursday. The conference focused on the theme, “System Building and Compliance: A Key Factor to Good Governance.”
The Nobel laureate expressed concern that some litigants spent years pursuing justice, only to die before benefiting from judgments delivered in their favour. He questioned why government agencies and other institutions could disregard court decisions despite their public pronouncement by competent courts.
Soyinka cited cases involving prolonged delays in complying with court orders, including directives to return confiscated passports. He described such delays as “medicine after death” and urged the commission to address the gap between judicial decisions and their implementation.
“I would like to see these judgments implemented. I would like to see justice delivered, not merely pronounced,” he said, according to reports of his address.
He argued that justice must extend beyond the delivery of judgments to ensuring that successful litigants obtain the relief granted by the courts.
The Emir of Lafia and Chairman of the Nasarawa State Council of Chiefs, Sidi Bage Muhammad I, also criticised the failure of public officials to comply with court orders. The retired Supreme Court justice attributed the problem to indiscipline and poor leadership, stressing that those in authority should set an example by respecting judicial decisions.
PCC Chief Commissioner Bashir Abubakar described the conference as a milestone in the commission’s 51-year history. He disclosed that the commission had received 1,281,984 complaints over the preceding two years and resolved 716,688 of them.
Abubakar said the figures reflected public engagement with the ombudsman institution while highlighting the need to strengthen complaint resolution and institutional accountability. He called for cooperation among the executive, legislature, judiciary, private sector and civil society to improve compliance and make administrative justice more accessible.
In a separate message, former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku called for greater public awareness of the PCC’s services, describing the ombudsman as a less expensive and less cumbersome avenue for seeking redress than litigation.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation George Akume, represented at the conference by Permanent Secretary Augusta Beke, said complaints should be treated as useful information for identifying institutional weaknesses and improving public administration.
The conference highlighted the need to build systems that deliver accountability consistently, rather than relying on the goodwill of individual officeholders.
Soyinka’s appeal places renewed emphasis on the implementation of court judgments as a central part of access to justice, particularly for citizens who may lack the resources to pursue prolonged legal battles or repeatedly seek compliance after winning their cases.
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