Decongestion: NEC directs governors to act on 2,359 condemned convicts

The National Economic Council (NEC), presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has directed governors of the 36 states of the federation to act on the 2,359 condemned convicts nationwide as part of measures to decongest prisons in the country.
The council failed to deliberate on the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FEAC) meeting deadlocked despite the presence of the principal actors – Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr.
Maikanti Baru; Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr.
Godwin Emefiele – at the meeting.
Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the monthly NEC meeting, Governor Mohammed Abubakar of Bauchi state said the need to decide on the 2,359 condemned convicts became necessary because of the threats they portend to the society.
“The Attorney General of the Federation made a presentation on the vexed issue of prison decongestion.
The problems bedeviling prisons in Nigeria is a matter of common knowledge and this presentation have special consideration to condemned prisoners.
As at July 18th we have 2,359 condemned convicts nationwide and the threats they present to the prison system is very, very clear.
“Because, these are a set of people who do not have any care in the world, the system has already condemned them and the need to carry out whatever sentence that has been passed by the courts is very very eminent,” he said.
He said the Attorney General proffered the three recommendations to council to which the governors have been directed to act upon.
He said: “That state governors may wish to carry out a review of the cases of condemned convicts within their jurisdiction as enshrined in Section 212 of the 1999 constitution; that the Nigerian Prisons Service review it’s policy on inter-state transfer of prisoners to reduce incidences of prisoners being held outside their states of conviction; and cases of convicts outside the state of conviction maybe forwarded to the governor of the state where they were sentenced for consideration.
“Council noted recommendations and welcome actions by governors.
Most of the actions are to be taken by governors because for example, the condemned prisoners it is the governors that have the responsibility of signing the warrant of execution.
What usually bedevils this system is the fact that for example, all the prisons in Bauchi do not have facilities for execution of condemned criminal