State governments to feed, accommodate their inmates – FG

The Minister of Interior, Mister Rauf Aregbesola on Thursday said henceforth, state governments are to provide feeding and accommodation to inmates in their states.

Speaking at a 2-day high-level conference on Decongestion and Corrections Management held in Abuja, he said the Federal Government would no longer bear such burdens.

According to him, with the amendment of the 1999 constitution which has now placed the issue of correctional services on the concurrent list, states are empowered to establish their own Correctional Services and facilities.

Aregbesola stated that states which do not have correctional facilities would have to pay the Federal Government for the feeding and accommodation of their inmates.

Currently, the Federal Government spends over N22 billion to feed inmates across 244 correctional facilities in the country.

The minister said this is draining the Federal Government’s revenue.

He also revealed that 4,067 inmates are in custody for being unable to pay fines of N1 million and below.