The National Economic Council presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday raised concerns over prison congestion nationwide as asked state governors to take action on condemned inmates put at 2,359.
The Bauchi Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of the council held inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Abubakar said the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), briefed the council on prison decongestion and put the number of condemned prisoners at 2,359 as of July 18.
He quoted the AGF as recommending that state governors carry out a review of the cases of condemned prisoners within their jurisdiction as enshrined in Section 212 of the 1999 constitution.
He further quoted the minister as suggesting that the Nigerian Prisons Service should review its policy on inter-state transfer of prisoners to reduce incidents of prisoners being held outside their states of conviction.
He suggested that cases of convicts outside the state of conviction maybe forwarded to the governor of the state where they were sentenced for consideration.
He said, “Council noted the recommendations and welcomed actions by governors.
“Most of the actions are to be taken by governors because for example, it is the governors that have the responsibility of signing the warrant of execution of condemned prisoners.
“What usually bedevils this system is the fact that for example, all the prisons in Bauchi do not have facilities for execution of condemned criminals.
“So, if a prisoner is sentenced to death in Bauchi, he will have to be transferred to Jos prison for execution and when that is done, the two governors of Bauchi and Plateau will have to sign the warrant of execution.
“Usually, what happens is that the Plateau state governor will say ‘I don’t know anything about this condemned prisoner, he was not condemned in my state.’
“So this is what is causing the congestion and the AGF is working on the Administration of Justice Act with a view to fine-tuning it to give some powers to the states so that they can take care of these problems.
“So council noted and directed governors to take action.”
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