President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sympathy for the Nigerian judiciary for poor funding and inadequate infrastructure that have caused problems in the administration of justice in the country.
The President, who hosted a delegation of the judicial arm of government at the Presidential Villa, Abuja today, Friday said that his government decided to increase the budget of the Judiciary in view of the role it plays.
“We are not unmindful of the daunting challenges faced by the judiciary in the areas of infrastructure and funding. This informed our decision to increase the judiciary’s budget in the 2017 fiscal year which we are committed to sustain. I have asked the Attorney General to take up this matter with the salaries and wages commission for advice to the President.”
President Buhari regretted the congestion in prisons across the country which he described as a national scandal.
He insisted that such situation must be addressed immediately through a new approach so as to save the country from further embarrassment.
“We need a new approach to prisons decongestion. It is a national scandal that many prisons are overcrowded by up to 90 percent. Urgent new measures should be put in place to speedily decongest prisons not only in the interest of justice but to save cost for prisons maintenance and enhance the welfare of prisoners.”
The President said that the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation had since requested that courts should be established within prisons to address the problem of logistics associated with the movement of suspects to courts during trial.
“My Attorney General is advocating establishment of courts inside the prisons to speed up decongestion. The logistical problem of transporting prisoners from prisons to courts means a difficult period for suspected detainees. This is really bad”[myad]
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