The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has launched a comprehensive mid-term review of its 2024–2027 Strategic Plan, acknowledging that despite notable progress in promoting and protecting human rights across Nigeria, implementation gaps, weak monitoring systems and limited institutional capacity continue to impede the full delivery of its mandate.
The Commission said the review marks a critical effort to recalibrate its four-year strategy, with renewed emphasis on improving access to justice, strengthening accountability and expanding protection for vulnerable and marginalized groups.
Speaking at a consultative stakeholders’ meeting on the presentation of the Mid-Term Review of the Strategic Plan in Abuja on Friday, Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu (SAN), described the exercise as a defining moment in assessing the Commission’s effectiveness in meeting its commitments to Nigerians.
Ojukwu said the review was not merely a routine performance assessment but a strategic opportunity to evaluate achievements, identify implementation challenges and adopt practical measures to enhance the Commission’s performance during the remaining period of the plan.
“The consultation offers an opportunity for constructive dialogue. Your contributions and recommendations will enrich the review findings and guide implementation during the remainder of the Strategic Plan,” he told participants drawn from government institutions, development partners, civil society organisations, the diplomatic community and the media.
He explained that the 2024–2027 Strategic Plan serves as the Commission’s blueprint for strengthening institutional capacity, improving service delivery, expanding access to justice and protecting the rights of all Nigerians, particularly vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.
According to him, the review revealed strong institutional commitment, with all 36 state offices and every department and unit at the Commission’s headquarters actively participating in implementing the strategic plan.
However, Ojukwu acknowledged that the assessment exposed significant shortcomings requiring urgent attention, including weak implementation mechanisms, inadequate monitoring and reporting systems, limited institutional capacity and the need for more efficient utilisation of available resources.
He stressed that addressing these challenges would be critical to improving the Commission’s effectiveness and ensuring that its interventions deliver measurable outcomes for citizens.
The Executive Secretary commended the dedication of NHRC staff, state coordinators and development partners whose contributions made the review possible, urging stakeholders to provide candid recommendations that would shape the next phase of implementation.
The review, which evaluated implementation between January 2024 and December 2025, found that the Commission recorded 90,627 implementation outputs across 160 validated performance indicators. Of the total, the 36 state offices accounted for 48,980 outputs, representing 54 per cent, while the headquarters contributed 41,647 outputs, or 46 per cent, reflecting broad institutional participation in executing the Commission’s strategic agenda.
According to the report, the Commission recorded its strongest performance in protecting vulnerable populations and promoting human rights education and awareness, with the two priority areas accounting for nearly three-quarters of all implementation outputs.
Other strategic priorities, including economic, social and cultural rights, access to justice and treaty reporting, recorded moderate progress, while research, resource mobilisation and knowledge management were identified as areas requiring greater attention during the remaining implementation period.
The evaluation also revealed disparities in implementation across state offices and headquarters departments, attributing the differences largely to variations in operational mandates, programme portfolios and institutional capacity rather than organisational effectiveness.
To improve performance, the report recommended targeted resource allocation to lower-performing strategic priorities, stronger monitoring and evaluation systems, enhanced data quality assurance, continuous capacity building for state offices and the institutionalisation of periodic management dashboards to support evidence-based decision-making.
The Commission said the consultative meeting is expected to validate the review findings and produce actionable recommendations that will guide implementation through the final phase of the 2024–2027 Strategic Plan, with the ultimate goal of strengthening public confidence and advancing the protection of human rights across Nigeria.
