The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), said on Thursday that he had proposed the decentralisation of the Nigerian prisons.

Under the current Nigerian Constitution, only the Federal Government has the powers to control and manage the 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 decentralisation of the management of the prisions at a recent meeting with state Chief Judges and Attorneys-General.

He said, “This will allow states to effectively participate through the setting up of their own correctional centres to manage offenders who commit state offences while the Federal Government will continue to manage offenders who commit federal offences.

“These are all measures expected to address the problem of congestion in the correctional centres as witnessed presently.”

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.