The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of N2.8 billion for the installation of a digital web-based integrated system to aid decongestion of prisons in Nigeria.
This was announced on Wednesday by the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting of the council which was chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Malami said the contract is to improve the country’s justice system and decongest its prisons adding that it will also assist stakeholders in the office of the Attorney-General, Nigeria Prisons Service, Nigeria Police as well as selected courts, to monitor the progress of pending cases and movement of suspects between the courts and prisons.
Malami said it would allow the AGF’s office to daily monitor prison inmates that should be taken to court and when; identify those that have stayed for the long awaiting trial; those whose cases have peculiar twists or other interventions that may be required; among other factors.
“The system would be operated by retrained staff of the Nigeria Prisons Service, while there would be systemic checks to substantiate the input or data of suspects put into the system to avoid compromise and other forms of corruption,” he said.
