Awaiting trial inmates account for 64 percent of Nigeria’s total custodial population, the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCoS) said on Wednesday, underscoring persistent congestion across facilities nationwide.
Controller-General Sylvester Nwakuche disclosed this while presenting the Service’s 2025 budget performance and 2026 estimates before the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions at the National Assembly, Abuja.
As of February 9, 2026, the total inmate population stood at 80,812. Of this number, 51,955 are awaiting trial inmates, 24,913 are convicted inmates, while 3,850 fall under other detention categories.
The figures reflect mounting pressure on custodial centres, many of which were built decades ago and now operate beyond designed capacity.
Nwakuche described the NCoS as a critical component of the criminal justice system, responsible for custodial and non-custodial services, safe custody of legally detained persons, rehabilitation and reintegration.
He added that the Service must ensure inmates are fed in line with the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Offenders.
On 2025 performance, he said the Service received N184.63bn, covering personnel, overhead and capital expenditure.
Of the N124.31bn approved for personnel costs, N112.68bn — 90.6 per cent — was released and fully utilised for salaries, pensions and health insurance under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
Recurrent overhead releases stood at 73.7 per cent. From available funds, N27.28bn — 71.7 per cent — was spent on inmate feeding, with outstanding food obligations of N10.75bn.
Operational costs, including staff training, fuelling of vehicles for court duties, electricity, security services and maintenance, consumed N6.49bn.
Capital funding recorded the lowest implementation. Of N14.50bn appropriated, only N3.22bn — 22.2 per cent — was released, leaving N11.27bn unreleased.
Nwakuche said capital spending is essential for construction and rehabilitation of custodial centres, procurement of vehicles, arms, ICT systems, inmate biometric capture and agricultural inputs for prison farms.
Despite not being revenue-driven, the Service generated N84.65m internally in 2025. Current staff strength stands at 33,024 across headquarters, zonal formations, state commands and custodial facilities.
For 2026, the Service proposed a N198.85bn budget.
Personnel costs account for N138.30bn to cover a projected workforce of 37,541 under four salary structures. Recurrent overhead is projected at N50.40bn, including N14.83bn for feeding an estimated 91,100 inmates at N1,125 per inmate daily.
The Controller-General appealed for an additional N90.38bn to raise capital allocation to about N100.50bn to address infrastructure deficits.
He also sought N37.99bn to implement non-custodial measures across the 774 local government areas.
He requested legislative approval to clear N30.38bn in promotion arrears from 2019 to 2024 and N25.16bn owed to local contractors for services rendered between 2023 and 2025.
Earlier, Chairman of the House Committee on Reformatory Institutions, Chinedu Ogah, called for urgent reforms, increased funding and presidential assent to the Correctional Service Trust Fund Bill.
“Our core duty here today is the budget defence of the 2026 Appropriations as presented by President Bola Tinubu,” Ogah said.
He described the NCoS as central to national security but lamented inadequate budgetary attention.
Many facilities, he noted, were built over a century ago and have deteriorated, contributing to security breaches and operational strain.
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Ogah urged the President to assent to the Trust Fund Bill, saying it would empower states to establish correctional facilities and ease pressure on federal centres.
He highlighted education reforms within custodial centres, revealing that about 10 study centres of the National Open University of Nigeria have been established nationwide, including one at the Abakaliki Correctional Centre.
According to him, access to education has enabled inmates to graduate andby reintegrate with renewed purpose.
He called on private organisations to direct corporate social responsibility initiatives to correctional institutions and urged support from the National Security Adviser for the Service’s operational requests.
The committee, Ogah said, would examine the 2025 performance before concluding deliberations on the 2026 estimates.
