The Honourable Attorney- General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN has stated that as part of the mandate of his office, a working group has been constituted to ensure access to justice and also ensure that persons are not unduly detained in the Custodial centres.
The HAGF made the statement at the submission of the report of the Working group to Audit Correctional centres to ascertain the status of inmates, on Wednesday 19th March, 2025 at Abuja.
According to the Minister, “this is in line with the Renewed Hope agenda of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR and in line with our obligations under various national and international instruments, including the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the international standards stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Right, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and other human rights instruments to which Nigeria is a party”.
He explained that, “This mandate of the working group is crucial to achieving the standards we have set for ourselves in our effort to reform our criminal justice system. The vision of Mr. President is for a criminal justice system that maintains law and order, deters crime, punish offenders, while at the same time strives to rehabilitate those offenders in order to facilitate their recovery and reintegration to society”.
He said, “Over the last few years, we have embarked on massive law reforms to make our laws more progressive, particularly in the criminal justice sector. Some of these laws include the Nigeria Correctional Services Act, Police Act, Administration of Criminal Justice Act/Laws applicable in the states. A common objective of these reforms is to provide sustainable solutions to the issue of inmates spending unreasonable periods in detention, enhancing conditions in Correctional centres and facilitating treatment, rehabilitation and re-integration of inmates. While some progress have been made in varying measures, the reality is that we still have much to do”.
The HAGF was of the view that laws by themselves would not solve the problem. “The solution, in my view, lies in the active intervention and collaboration of federal and state institutions with a mandate on criminal justice delivery. This is more so because of the federal and state components of our criminal justice system. We simply must find a way to work together to facilitate access to justice for those who come in conflict or contact with the law”.
The Minister stated his intention to continue to take advantage of various collaborative platforms to engage with critical stakeholders in order to ensure uniformity in approaches to addressing measures militating against access to justice, particularly in the area of over-crowding in the Correctional centres. “These platforms cut across the judiciary and the executive. We will also continue to embark on legislative reforms until we are able to reach our desired goals for the benefit of our citizens”.
Earlier, the Head of the Working Group to audit the Correctional Centers across the country, Dr. Olawale Fapohunda, SAN urged the HAGF on the need to convene a meeting of the Body of Attorneys-General, with a view to achieving a coordinated response between Federal and State Governments on the legal status of all inmates including but not limited to those who have overstayed without trial. He said the conditions of inmates are still terrible and unbearable.
According to him, the Working Group findings discovered there were inmates with life-threatening ailments who required urgent medical attention, the cost of which was outside the budget of the Correctional Services. The Working Group also identified several minors, including those whose ages as stated on their warrants of detention were incompatible with their physical outlook.
“It would have been odd in the extreme if the working group had simply focused on the status of Section, 35 inmates and ignored the plight of other inmates deserving urgent attention”. This category of inmates includes those without legal representation. Indeed, several inmates continue to be kept in detention for periods longer than the maximum period of imprisonment prescribed for the offence because they do not have legal representation.
The working group found that an alarming high number of inmates in the custodial centres under review were without legal representation. The HAGF is invited to note that although the legal aid council of Nigeria is mandated to provide free legal services to inmates without legal representation, it is presently under resourced and thus barely able to make a significant difference.
Fapohunda said while auditing the Custodial centres, they had interfaced with categories of inmates and found their conditions deplorable.
He expressed appreciation to the National Human Rights Commission, the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Controller General of Correctional Services for their active participation and cooperation in carrying out the exercise.
Signed
Modupe Ogundoro
Director (I&PR)
19th March, 2025
