Senate Tasked on Speedy Passage of Bill on Non-Custodial Sentences
The Nigerian Senate has been urged to expedite the passage of the bill on non-custodial sentences as part of efforts to reform the country’s criminal justice system and address the persistent issue of overcrowded correctional facilities.
The call was made on Wednesday during a justice sector forum in Abuja, where civil society organisations, legal practitioners, and rights advocates emphasised the urgent need for legislative action to introduce more humane and efficient sentencing options.
The bill, which seeks to provide alternatives such as probation, community service, restitution, and rehabilitation for minor offenders, is seen as a critical tool to reduce Nigeria’s heavy reliance on custodial sentences.
Stakeholders at the forum said that the absence of an effective legal framework has hampered the implementation of non-custodial measures, despite the provisions already contained in the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015. They maintained that unless the proposed bill is passed and supported with institutional reforms, prisons will continue to remain overstretched and justice delivery delayed.
Legal analyst, Barrister Ifeoma Okezie, noted that the bill offers an opportunity to humanise Nigeria’s justice system. She said jailing individuals for petty, non-violent offences often serves no rehabilitative purpose and only increases the burden on the correctional system.
“Non-custodial sentencing is not just about decongesting prisons, it’s about giving our justice system a human face. We must stop jailing people for petty crimes when restorative justice can achieve better outcomes,” she said.
Former Legal Aid Council director, Musa Baba, also lent his voice to the call, urging the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters to prioritise the bill. He said training judicial officers and law enforcement personnel on the implementation of alternative sentencing is vital to its success.
Recent data from the Nigerian Correctional Service indicates that the country’s prisons house over 80,000 inmates, though the facilities were built to accommodate only around 50,000. Rights groups and international organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about overcrowding and poor conditions within these centres.
Some states, including Lagos and Kaduna, have begun implementing non-custodial sentencing under local laws, but advocates argue that a unified national approach is necessary to institutionalise the practice across the country.
The Nigerian Correctional Service Act 2019 laid the groundwork for the reform by transitioning the Nigerian Prisons Service into a correctional system and introducing rehabilitative principles. However, stakeholders say the full potential of that law cannot be realised without supporting legislation from the National Assembly.
With the Senate set to resume plenary in the coming weeks, civil society groups have promised to intensify advocacy to ensure the bill is passed. They maintain that the reform is vital to building a more just, effective, and inclusive legal system in Nigeria.
