An assessment of Nigeria’s fulfilment of its obligations under the international covenant on civil and political rights

Abstract

State parties to the ICCPR are under an obligation to submit periodic reports to the HRC for review on the level of their compliance with the treaty. However, some state parties shy away from submitting such reports. To compel the submission, the HRC introduced a procedure where it reviews a state’s level of compliance in the absence of such report. It equally invites NHRIs and NGOs to submit reports on the level of compliance of states with their obligations under the treaty. Nigeria failed to submit its report for 18 years despite repeated reminders from the HRC. This article examined the effect of the reporting procedure of the HRC in the absence of a state’s report and whether it has any impact on the compliance level of state obligations to the ICCPR. Nigeria was chosen for the study, as it has serially refused to comply with the HRC’s request to submit its report but was ‘forced’ to participate in the review process by the HRC despite not presenting a report to the Committee. The study analysed relevant literature and the jurisprudence of the HRC to assess the effectiveness of the state reporting system as it relates to Nigeria. There is need for the NHRC and NGOs to exert pressure on the authorities to submit an objective report periodically to the HRC. It also recommends that the work of the HRC be disseminated within the territory of Nigeria so that the public will likewise participate in monitoring the fulfilment of Nigeria’s obligations to the treaty.