A coalition of 24 civil society organisations, both Nigerian and international, has called on President Bola Tinubu’s administration to take immediate steps to allow Nigerians direct access to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
The groups – including the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Amnesty International Nigeria, BudgIT, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)/Transparency International Nigeria – jointly urged the government to lodge a declaration under Article 34(6) of the protocol establishing the continental court.
Such a declaration would permit Nigerian citizens and eligible non-governmental organisations to bring cases directly before the Arusha-based court once domestic legal remedies have been exhausted.
Although Nigeria ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 1983 and acceded to the protocol establishing the court in 2004, it has never made the optional Article 34(6) declaration – a step that would unlock supranational recourse for victims of rights violations.
In a statement addressed to the government and shared with Attorney General Lateef Fagbemi, the coalition described the omission as a “continued refusal” that “undermines access to justice and effective remedies” and “weakens accountability, particularly for victims whose cases are stalled, ignored, or inadequately addressed within the domestic legal system.”
The organisations pointed out that Nigeria is already integrated into the African human rights architecture. Justice Stella Isibhakhomen Anukam, a Nigerian jurist, currently sits on the African Court bench following her re-election in July 2024 – and has publicly stressed the importance of her home state making the Article 34(6) declaration.
The coalition noted that several African Union member states – including Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, and the Republic of Niger – have already made the declaration.
“As one of Africa’s leading democracies, Nigeria must show moral and political leadership by fully subscribing to the jurisdiction of the African Court,” the groups said. “Doing so would strengthen Africa’s human rights architecture at a time when the global rules-based system is under increasing strain.”
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights recommended as far back as May 2018, during its 62nd Ordinary Session, that Nigeria expedite the declaration process.
According to the coalition, the declaration would offer tangible protections across a spectrum of rights – including freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, digital rights, equitable access to natural resources, and public safety.
It would, the groups argued, enhance state accountability and improve oversight of powerful non-state actors, including technology companies.
The organisations urged President Tinubu to lodge the declaration without delay and to open consultations with civil society on the domestic legal and administrative steps required to operationalise it.
“We are ready to work constructively with the government,” the statement read, “to advance access to justice and effective remedies and reinforce Nigeria’s leadership in promoting human rights across Africa.”
