MDAs resolved 60% of customer complaints despite funding challenges: SERVICOM

The Service Compact with All Nigerians (SERVICOM) says some ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) resolve between 50 and 60 per cent of customer complaints.

SERVICOM national coordinator Helen Lawal disclosed this at the agency’s Quarterly Charter Performance Reporting Breakfast Meeting in Abuja on Monday.

Ms Lawal, represented by Ngozi Akinbodewa, head of operations at SERVICOM, said the meeting provides a platform for MDAs to report their performance in implementing service charters and work plans, managing complaints and obtaining customer feedback.

She said SERVICOM assessed MDAs based on four key performance areas: work plan implementation, service charter implementation, complaint management and resolution, and customer satisfaction surveys.

“When we started this meeting, many MDAs had backlogs of unresolved complaints,” she said. “However, from the presentations today, I have seen many resolving about 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the complaints they receive.”

She said some MDAs had presented remarkable reports, with complaint resolution rates reaching 60 per cent.

Ms Lawal, however, said SERVICOM would verify the reports to establish whether the figures reflected actual improvements in service delivery.

She said the agency would conduct a functionality evaluation in mid-November to verify supporting documents and confirm whether the reported complaints had been resolved.

Ms Lawal identified inadequate funding and delayed releases of funds for implementing work plans as major challenges facing MDAs.

She said only about 30 per cent of budgetary allocations had been released to MDAs, including SERVICOM, adding that the government was making efforts to enable the agencies to implement their work plans and 2025 budgets.

The coordinator attributed differences in performance among MDAs partly to leadership commitment, noting that agencies whose leaders supported service improvement initiatives tended to perform better.

Ms Lawal said SERVICOM would continue to support MDAs in improving service delivery and ensuring Nigerians receive quality services.

Presenting his report, Orubor Nelson of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment said the ministry had made efforts to improve its third-quarter performance despite funding constraints.

Mr Nelson said the ministry had not received any capital release since 2025, which had affected the implementation of its activities.

He said inadequate funding remained a challenge across several ministries, limiting their capacity to execute planned programmes.

Mr Nelson, however, commended the ministry’s leadership for supporting staff welfare, particularly cleaners, security personnel, and pensioners.

Similarly, Anne Chinedu Ogbonna, head of SERVICOM at the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), said front-desk officers, service improvement desk officers and charter desk officers were working to strengthen customer relations and enhance the commission’s performance.

She said NAICOM had, for the first time, launched its service charter, local charter and service-level agreement to improve standards and accountability.

Also speaking, Maria Angiju-Mamza of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said the federal government was working to improve access to affordable housing under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

She said Nigerians seeking access to housing programmes were expected to complete and submit the relevant forms accurately for the ministry to process their applications.

Ms Angiju-Mamza identified funding as a major challenge facing the ministry but expressed optimism that funds would be made available to improve access to quality and affordable housing.

The quarterly meeting brings together 13 MDAs to review service charter implementation, assess complaint-handling mechanisms and identify areas requiring improvement in public service delivery.

(NAN)