FG says 12,000 inmates released from prison in six years as Non-Custodial Sentencing is mute to Ease Congestion

The Federal Government declared, on Tuesday that over 12,000 inmates were released from various correctional centers across the country within the last six years, in line with the policy of prison decongestion.

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami stated this to members of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters, during the 2023 budget defence session with the committee.

Malami who made the declaration in response to a question from Senator Ajibola Basiru said the federal government was able to decongest the prisons across the country through policy actions, aside from the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, meant for expeditious dispensation of Justice.

Meanwhile, Abubakar Malami says non-custodial sentencing will help decongest correctional facilities in the country.

Mr Malami further stated that it is now lawful to sentence offenders or criminals to any form of punishment other than prison sentencing as part of measures to decongest the country’s correctional centres.

Malami, who appeared alongside other staff of the Justice Ministry, including the Secretary, of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Prerogative of Mercy Leticia Daniels says the government at all levels have equally granted pardon to prison inmates as part of the prison decongestion efforts.

Earlier, in his remarks, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the 2023 budget estimates for the Federal Ministry of Justice and its agencies as contained in the Appropriation Bill submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari, is N71.291billion