Exploring the accountability and performance of the Nigerian Correctional Service: A multi-stakeholder perspective

Seminar summary

While we know a lot about accountability and performance measurement and management in private and public sector settings, little is known about these in the context of prisons. In addition, the little we know about prison accountability and performance management is focused on countries in the global north. Our study seeks to provide a broader view of prison accountability and performance management by focusing on an African context. This is particularly important as prisons in Africa, where abuses of human rights are rife, will offer insights into what is measured, managed and then drive the need to hold actors accountable for performance with a significant impact on the quality of the services provided. Thus, the study explores how prison accountability and performance expectations are understood by diverse stakeholders and discharged. Specifically, we investigated the system of accountability and performance management in the Nigerian prison system and how these impact on the everyday practices and outcomes of the prisons.
This exploratory study draws on multiple research methods such as documents, quasi-observation, interviews, and focus groups. Interview participants were drawn from diverse stakeholder groups such as prison frontline, managerial and strategic management staff, civil society organisations, legal practitioners, inmates, and policymakers. Focus groups were also conducted with prison warders and managers, zonal and top management staff. Observation of prison facilities provided useful complementary data for evaluating performance such as overcrowding, health, and hygiene, adequacies of the facilities, etc.
Our empirical findings show how those incarcerated are confronted with serving their prison sentences in overcrowded environments prone to human rights abuses, poor accountability practices, and several other problems. More worrying is the fact that the majority of the inmates are awaiting trials, such that most of them would have outspent their likely possible years if they had been convicted. The implications of our findings suggest the need for deliberate and concerted efforts in promoting accountable and performance-driven prison systems in Nigeria. This would help prevent the criminalization of poverty, overcrowding, and the inhumane treatment faced by the prisoners to protect/respect their rights.

How to attend this seminar

This seminar is free to attend with no need to register in advance.

We welcome you to join us online on Wednesday 7 February 2024 at 2pm.

Speaker bio

Professor Amanze Ejiogu

Amanze Ejiogu joined the Finance, Accounting and Business Systems department in February 2023. Research interests centre around studying the interface between accounting and society from an interdisciplinary perspective – how accounting impacts society and in turn is impacted by society. Amanze is particularly interested in accounting issues as they relate to corruption, transparency, social housing, the public sector, and natural resource governance. Amanze is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) with extensive experience of teaching and researching in several higher education institutions in the UK. Prior to joining academia, worked as an accountant and consultant in industry. He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA). In addition, have several years of experience working as a Non-Executive Director for various organisations.

Dr Mercy Denedo

(2) Mercy Denedo is an Associate Professor in Accounting. Before joining Durham in November 2017, she was a doctoral student and a Graduate Teaching Assistant at Heriot-Watt University. Her undergraduate and MSc degrees were in Accounting from Delta State University, Nigeria and Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge respectively. Underlining Mercy’s research is interest in social and environmental issues that affect our everyday realities from a critical perspective. Mercy’s research is concerned with how accounting or other alternative forms of accounting could be used to facilitate stakeholders’ engagement, improve governance and accountability, organisational decision making, their everyday operations and the everyday realities of voiceless stakeholders. Mercy’s research has been presented at practitioner-focused conferences and workshops, international conferences, seminars and doctoral colloquia including those organised by the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA), Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Accounting, the Alternative Accounts Conference, and the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) among others.