Commissions of inquiry and pathways to accountability in Plateau State, Nigeria

Marjoke Oosterom,Caitriona Dowd,Dung Pam Sha

doi:10.1017/s0022278x21000252

Abstract

ABSTRACTFor decades, Plateau State in Nigeria's Middle Belt has witnessed repeated ethnoreligious violence. Over this period, both state and federal governments have established formal Commissions of Inquiry (COIs) in response to unrest, tasked with investigating violence, identifying perpetrators, and – ultimately – strengthening accountability. While commissions’ mandates and specific outcomes varied, there is general consensus that inquiries have been largely ineffective at securing justice or establishing accountability for violence. This study seeks to understand the expectations placed on, and role of, COIs in Plateau State as pathways to formal accountability in a context of recurring violence. We argue that COIs are embedded in the complex, multilevel networks and politics of state and non-state institutions. Civil society, in turn, has diverse expectations and demands, and articulates these in fragmented ways. As a result, COIs served primarily as another avenue for interest-based negotiations.

Highlights

Plateau State in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has witnessed decades of repeated ethnoreligious violence
Drawing on a series of qualitative key informant interviews in Jos, Plateau State, we explore why recent Commissions of Inquiry (COIs), as formal accountability mechanisms, have
Existing research demonstrates that crises of credibility and issues of partiality undermine the ability of formal accountability mechanisms to deliver hard or soft accountability (Oyieke )

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Plateau State in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has witnessed decades of repeated ethnoreligious violence. It remains a contested issue in many contexts and civic groups have argued that it risks a ‘blanket amnesty’ in some cases (Greenawalt : ) Given their institutional and legal limitations, COIs need the buy-in of other actors in the political system to implement recommendations, in particular for ‘hard’ accountability measures that require cooperation of public prosecutors and courts, and a range of actors to remove power holders responsible from office. This section discusses the nature of networked governance in Plateau State, and how COIs are embedded in politics at federal and state government level and, by extension, in conflict dynamics themselves This helps to explain why COIs have had limited success in producing ‘soft’ accountability, and have failed to produce ‘hard’ accountability. We find that their lack of responsiveness has strengthened a sense of impunity and further deepened mistrust

Competing interests within the state

CONCLUSION