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No fewer than 100 inmates were set free in 2024 as a result of an oversight function carried out by the House of Representatives Committee on Correctional facilities,
According to Hon. Ifeoluwa Ehindero, Member, Federal House of Representatives representing Akoko North East/Akoko North West of Ondo State, the Committee has been instrumental in assisting in the decongestion of the correctional facilities across the country.
The Federal lawmaker who is marking one year in office said the figure is beside his personal interventions and that of other colleagues.
Ehindero made the disclosure during a chat with media practitioners from the state.
He stressed the importance of oversight functions, citing the example of the House Committee visitation to Correctional centres, where they observe overcrowding of the centres first hand.
He said: “I would say the most challenging part was when I saw the issue of justice administration, in which most of our correctional facilities are overcrowded.
“And there is no law that actually gives power to the receiving officer in any correctional facility to reject inmates. So even when you have too much crowd, when you’re overcrowded, and you want people to leave your facility, you still have to accept inmates. And then sometimes you go there and you see that some people have overstayed.
“Some people are awaiting trial. If you’re awaiting trial for possibly an offence that will keep the person in for two years, which means if the person had been convicted, he will spend just two years and go back. But some people are awaiting trial for an offence of two years, and they’re awaiting trial for about eight years.
“So, things like that when we see it, we intervene.”
He added that the committee with the collaboration with other agencies of government were able to ensure the release of 100 inmates by paying their fines among other things.
He said with this, they were able to help decongest the prison, adding “When we go as a team, as a committee, we do that. So we try to do a lot of things in the conversation when it comes to that.”
Personally, Ehindero who has just been appointed as the Chairman of House Committee on Students Loan, Scholarships, Higher Education Financing, Nigeria Education Loan Fund, NELFUND also listed three very important bills he sponsored, which he said are very crucial to the people of his constituency and state.
The bill for the establishment of Federal College of Education, Bill for the establishment of Agricultural Institute and
So far I’ve sponsored three bills, one of which has passed second reading. We are preparing for the public hearing before the end of the month. The one that has passed second reading is a bill for an act to establish a federal college of education in Akungba federal constituency.
“So we still have some that are on the queue, which definitely very soon will be moving on as well.”
He said there would also be a lot of work at the local levels in accordance to the budget trust of President Bola Tinubu who plans to do much work at the grassroot levels in the 2025 budget.
He said the people should be expecting much infrastructure provision.
