May 11, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government, on Thursday, said state governments will now be responsible for the feeding and accommodation of inmates in their states.
Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, made this known on Thursday, at the ongoing 2-day High-Level Conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management, in Abuja.
The Minister said, with the amendment of the 1999 Constitution, which placed the issue of correctional services on the concurrent list, states are empowered to establish their own Correctional Services and facilities.
Aregbesola said states which do not have correctional facilities would have to pay the Federal Government for the feeding and accommodation of their inmates.
The Minister, who disclosed that the Federal Government currently spends over N22 billion to feed inmates across 244 correctional facilities in the country, said the burden is draining revenue.
On his part, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Dr Shuaib Belgore, said the Federal Government has budgeted a total sum of N22.4 billion in the 2023 Appropriation Act, to feed inmates in correctional centres across the country.
Belgore said there has been a steady rise in the population of the custodial centres with at least 80% of the inmates awaiting trial.
According to him, there are 244 custodial centres nationwide, with 75,507 inmate population, thereby leading to 82 of them being overcrowded.
He said the total number of male inmates is 73,821, while females are 1,686.
Out of the 75,507 inmates, 52,436 are awaiting trial while 23,071 are convicted persons, with 3,322 as condemned inmates on death row.
He also said about 4,067 inmates are in custody for being unable to pay fines of N1 million and below.
