Members of the highest court in the land were led to the Presidential Villa for the visit by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Hon Justice Walter Onnoghen.
In his remarks, Buhari noted that many Nigerian prisons were overcrowded by as much as 90 percent, a challenge that needed to be quickly addressed by de-congesting the prisons.
“Urgent new measures should be put in place to speedily de-congest prisons not only in the interest of justice but also to save cost for prisons maintenance and enhance the welfare of prisoners,” Buhari said.
The president equally noted that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami had already requested that courts be established within prisons, in order to address the problem of logistics associated with the movement of suspects to courts during trials which had been contributing to prison congestion.
Buhari commended the judiciary for establishing special courts to speed up trial for corruption and other criminal cases, noting that government decided to increase the budgetary allocation to 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,” he said.
In his remarks, Justice Onnoghen thanked God for healing the president and promised that the judiciary would continue to do its best for the country.
The Vanguard reports that the CJN also thanked the federal executive council for its support and cooperation.
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