Awaiting-Trial Inmates Hit 64% of Prison Population — NCoS CG

Patrick Isaac.

Awaiting-trial inmates comprise 64% of Nigeria’s 80,812 prison population as of February 9, 2026 51,955 awaiting trial, 24,913 convicted.

Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS), Controller-General Sylvester Nwakuche revealed this during 2026 budget defence before the House Committee on Reformatory Institutions, highlighting congestion in outdated facilities.

NCoS handles custody, rehab, and reintegration per UN standards.

Presenting the 2025 appropriation, he gave a breakdown of the budget. N184.63 billion. Personnel (N124.31B): 90.6% released/utilized. Overhead: 73.7% released, with N27.28B (71.7%) on inmate feeding (N10.75B owed); N6.49B on ops. Capital (N14.5B): just 22.2% released. IGR: N84.65M. Staff: 33,024.2026 proposal: N198.85B, including N138.3B personnel (37,541 staff), N50.4B overhead (N14.83B feeding 91,100 inmates at N1,125/day), and N90.38B extra capital to hit N100.5B for infrastructure/vehicles/ICT/farms.

Requests: N37.99B non-custodial, N30.38B promotion arrears, N25.16B contractor debts.

Committee Chairman, Chinedu Ogah decried poor funding for century-old centres, urged assent to Correctional Service Trust Fund Bill, state facilities, education (10 NOUN centres), vocational/agri programs, and PSA support.

He praised officers and pushed CSR to cut recidivism, vowing scrutiny for security impact.