FG Contemplates Exemption for Prison Inmates With Fines Below N1m

The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has announced that the Federal Government is exploring the possibility of granting a waiver to inmates across Nigeria’s correctional facilities with fines below N1 million.

Aregbesola revealed that about 5,000 people are currently in prison custody due to their inability to pay fines.

While commissioning a 20-bed medical facility at the Port Harcourt custodial centre, Aregbesola called on governors to consider granting waivers to inmates in such situations.

Last year, the government requested details of persons with fines below N1 million that are still in custody, and discovered that about five million people were affected.

In January, Aregbesola wrote to all governors, urging them to waive these fines and release the affected Nigerians from custodial centres.This move is part of the ongoing reform of correctional facilities in Nigeria, which will see the Federal Government spend N22.44 billion to feed prison inmates in 2023. This sum constitutes 1% of the N21.83 trillion budget earmarked by the government for the same year.

In 2021, lawmakers approved an increase in inmates’ daily allowance from N450 per person to a minimum of N1000 per day, taking into consideration the nation’s economic situation.

However, in 2022, the correctional service authorities lamented the challenges of maintaining facilities across the country, as the number of inmates in custody had increased.