Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola has requested that governors drop fines for prisoners who owe less than N1 million.
Aregbesola spoke during the Port Harcourt maximum security detention center's commissioning of a medical clinic with 20 beds.
According to the minister, 5,000 people are being held in prisons across the country for penalties under N1 million.
According to him, the federal government spends millions of naira every year to retain prisoners whose fines total less than N10,000.
The minister claimed that each inmate at the penitentiary facilities receives a yearly stipend of N1 million.
“Last year, we requested for details of persons with fines or such financial orders of less than N1,000,000 that are still in our facilities and we got about five million,†NAN quoted him saying.
“In January, I wrote specifically to all governors to sensitise them on the need to waive these fines so as to take those Nigerians away from the custodial centres"
“In Rivers state, we have 22 inmates owing the state about N3,800,049; that will not be too much for Rivers state to pay or waive to free them.â€
The minister mentioned that one of the ways to reduce decongestion in the prison is for state governments to build courts inside the facilities.
“We need to decongest rapidly and part of what should be done is for the state governments to work with us using their domain to build courts inside the facilities so that they can try inmates there,†he added.
“Part of the reasons why there are delays in the prosecution process and trial is difficulty in transporting inmates to the courts.
"In addition, virtual trials can be done with improved technology within the court’s facility.â€