The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Thursday that he had proposed the decentralization of the Nigerian prisons.
Under the current Nigerian Constitution, only the Federal Government has the powers to control and manage the Nigerian prisons, recently renamed Correctional Centres.
Malami, who spoke in Abuja at the National Summit on Correctional Centres Reforms in Nigeria, said he had suggested the proposal for the decentralization of the management of the prisons at a recent meeting with state Chief Judges and Attorneys-General.
He said the proposal, if implemented, would enable the state governments to manage inmates imprisoned for committing state offenses, while the Federal Government would continue to manage inmates that committed federal offenses.
He also said over 7,000 inmates had been released from Correctional Centres in the country in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
