Thia Correctional Service (NCoS) has allocated N14.83 billion in its 2026 budget proposal specifically to feed an estimated 91,100 inmates across custodial facilities nationwide, Peak Newspaper reports.
This figure was presented by Controller-General Sylvester Nwakuche during the defence of the agency’s 2025 budget performance and 2026 estimates before the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions in Abuja.
The feeding allocation is part of a broader N50.40 billion recurrent overhead budget, and is calculated at N1,125 per inmate per day. Nwakuche explained that the funding reflects pressures on the Service arising from a high number of awaiting trial detainees still held in custodial centres across the country.
He noted that awaiting trial inmates account for about 64 per cent of the total inmate population, a situation that continues to strain resources and contribute to congestion in facilities built decades ago.
In reviewing the 2025 fiscal year, Nwakuche said the Service received N184.63 billion for personnel, overhead and capital expenditure. Of this, about N27.28 billion was spent on feeding inmates, but the Service still has outstanding liabilities of N10.75 billion for food rations.
Beyond feeding costs, the NCoS budget proposal of N198.85 billion includes personnel costs, capital funding for infrastructure and rehabilitation, and resources for non-custodial measures.
Lawmakers hearing the budget called for urgent reforms in the correctional system to address persistent overcrowding, decaying infrastructure and operational constraints.
The heavy reliance on pretrial detention and the pressure it places on custodial facilities have been longstanding issues in the Nigerian criminal justice system, complicating efforts to relieve overcrowding and improve inmate welfare.
