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Oshiomhole Knocks FG for Feeding Dogs Better Than Inmates
The Senate has taken a swipe at the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS) saying it is disheartening to hear that its (NCS) dogs are better fed than any of the over 81,000 inmates in correctional centres across the country.
Speaking on Thursday in Abuja during the 2024 budget defence session with the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Interior, Chairman of the Committee and former governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) expressed surprise that the NCS has 900 dogs across its custodial centres and it spends N800 daily to feed each of the animals, but spends N750 daily per inmate.
He wondered why “dogs are better fed than inmates in correctional centres, many of whom are awaiting trial.”
Oshiomhole, who noted that this explained why some inmates, who are convicted on simple cases, leave prisons as hardened criminals because of the inhuman treatment meted out to them, adding: “With the high cost of living, we suspect that these inmates are not fed three times a day. It is not your fault, don’t try to be defensive. It is an appropriation issue,” he told the CG.
Earlier, the Comptroller General of the Correctional Service, Haliru Nababa, had told the Committee that the service spends N800 per day to feed each of the 900 dogs in the service, while N750 is allocated to feed each prisoner, majority of whom are awaiting trials, at N250 per meal.
Nababa, who told the lawmakers that there are over 81,000 inmates across the custodial centres nationwide – with more than 53,000 of them awaiting trial – said his Service spends N750 to feed an inmate per day, an amount he said was grossly inadequate, noting that they had proposed an upward review to N3,000 daily feeding cost for an inmate. The proposal, he added, had been submitted to the Minister of Interior.
Nababa said: “The total number of inmates in 2023 is 81,354 nationwide while 53, 352 are awaiting trial. We feed each inmate with N750 daily and they are fed 3 times daily (N250 for each square meal). We have 900 security dogs and to feed a dog each day is N800 daily.”
He also said that the correctional service has 900 dogs across its custodial centres, and that it spends N800 to feed each of them daily, just as he pleaded with the lawmakers to come to their aid as they have already requested an increase in the feeding amounts for the inmates.
Nababa said: “We wrote a letter to the President to review 3,000 per day for each inmate. We want this committee to assist us in putting in words for us. The money is grossly inadequate. The budget for feeding each of them per day is N751 per day at N250 per meal, per inmate.
The CG explained that the feeding allowance per day would be reduced to N720 after the deduction of VAT and tax
Speaking further, Oshiomhole said that 53, 352 or more inmates are not convicted, yet they are awaiting trial. They are not guilty of any offence known to law. They are innocent under our laws. For an innocent Nigerian who is being held in a correctional home, N250 per meal is grossly inadequate. I wonder what you are feeding them with. They are obviously underfed.
Oshiomhole lamented that while the fault might not be that of the Correctional Service, it was heart-wrecking to know that the Nigerian government has been dehumanizing her citizens, adding: “The figures given here suggest that you have been dehumanizing Nigerians. If it was the policy of the Federal Government to appropriate more money to feed dogs than human beings, we must correct errors of the past.”
According to him, the government must scale up efforts to address unemployment as prisoners from other countries have made matters worse by taking up jobs meant for Nigerians, describing the situation as an inhumane act to inmates.
Oshiomhole who requested a breakdown of the number of inmates and security dogs they have at the moment and how they are fed on a daily basis, said, ” I would like to see a breakdown of how you feed these inmates, if you say you feed inmates three times a day with N250 each. How many dogs do you have and how much does it cost to feed them daily?”
Apparently dissatisfied with Nababa’s explanations, Oshiomhole who emphasised that the committee will not be in a hurry to “rubber stamp” or approve any budget until they receive satisfactory answers, said: “Your name has been changed from prison to correctional, but you are dehumanising.
“It’s not just your fault because the government appropriates little money for you, but it is either that you don’t feed these prisoners or you feed them only once and even at that, very miserable food.
“This is why they have completely emaciated and some can never live a decent life again even when they did not commit an offence. It is not correct to tell us that you feed prisoners a day with N750, how?
“You all know the prices of these food items in the market, so how can you look us eye to eye and tell us that you feed a man in Nigeria awaiting trial or even committed an offence with N750 a day, how much is a bottle of water,” he questioned.
“The Minister of Interior said yesterday that the NCS, rather than being correctional, is dehumanising. I am surprised that the 2024 budget is still based on old figures. I am surprised the CG cannot, based on the market forces, present before us, the realistic amount that could feed an innocent Nigerian who has not been pronounced guilty by any court of law. You mean the chart is so complicated that you will need to read a book to tell us?”
Oshiomhole, who asked the NCS team how much it costs them to buy the quantity of the foodstuff and ingredients needed to prepare the meal of a prisoner, said: “This is a very important assignment. A lot of Nigerians under your care are innocent. They are in prisons, courtesy of big men and women who want to “teach them a lesson”
“Many of them are there on an offence they knew nothing about. However, the system has put them under your care.
“Somebody said if Mandela was in a Nigerian prison for 27 years, he would have lost his sanity by the time he was released to govern South Africa. Our prisons are meant to correct the behaviours of the people. They are not condemnation centres. They are not to dehumanised.”
In her contribution, Senator Ireti Kingibe, LP, FCT who was not satisfied with Nababa ‘s response, questioned the welfare of the inmates, asking: “How many doctors and veterinary doctors do you have taking care of these inmates and dogs?”
Prior to answering the query, Nababa and his team were seen chatting amongst themselves, giving the impression that they lacked the necessary information.
Minutes later, Nababa responded, saying, “We have 75 Medical doctors and consultants, 6 veterinary doctors who cover Lagos, Kaduna, Owerri and some of them cover more than one state and they move from place to place. The veterinary doctors have different nurses under them.”
Other Lawmakers present at the joint sitting were; Rep. Adebayo Balogun, APC, Lagos); Francis Fadahunsi, PDP, Osun East), Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, PDP, Kebbi North; Ezenwa Onyewuchi, LP, Imo East); Ireti Kingibe, LP, FCT, Abdulaziz Yari, APC, Zamfara West, amongst others.
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
Pope Francis showed further improvement on Wednesday, the Vatican said, although it cautioned that “the prognosis remains reserved” for the 88-year-old fighting pneumonia.
“The clinical conditions of the Holy Father in the last 24 hours have shown a further, slight improvement,” said the Vatican in its nightly bulletin on the health of the pontiff, who has been in hospital since February 14.
“Although a slight improvement is being recorded, the prognosis remains reserved,” it said.
The Argentine pope was originally admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital with breathing difficulties and bronchitis, but his condition subsequently deteriorated, sparking widespread concern among Catholics.
Respiratory attacks he suffered at the weekend that required high levels of oxygen and blood transfusions have not been repeated, according to the Vatican, although he continues to receive oxygen and do breathing exercises.
On Wednesday, the Vatican said a CT scan performed Tuesday showed “normal progression of the pulmonary inflammatory condition” while blood tests on Wednesday confirmed the improvement.
It also said that a mild renal insufficiency detected at the weekend “had resolved.”
As Catholics across the globe pray for Francis, doctors have warned the path to recovery could be long, with the Jesuit pontiff likely staying in hospital beyond this week.
Despite his critical condition, the leader of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics has kept up with Church matters from his hospital suite, according to the Vatican.
Now on his 13th day in the hospital, the Pope Wednesday was “sitting in a chair, and continuing with the treatment as normal”, a Vatican source said.
The Vatican said he received the Eucharist in the morning and spent his afternoon working.The current hospitalisation is Francis’s fourth and longest.
The pope, who had part of one of his lungs removed as a young man, has suffered increasing health problems in recent years.
He is prone to bronchitis and suffers from hip and knee pain, which has made him reliant on a wheelchair.
Pilgrims and faithful have been flocking to the Vatican and the Gemelli to pray for Francis, with a fresh round of prayers held in St Peter’s Square later Wednesday evening.
US President, Donald Trump, has unveiled plans to sell new “gold card” residency permits for a price of $5 million each, saying Russian oligarchs may be eligible.
Trump said sales of the new visa, a high-price version of the traditional green card, would bring in job creators and could be used to reduce the US national deficit.
“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
The Republican president, who has made the deportation of millions of undocumented migrants a priority of his second term, said the new card would be a route to highly prized US citizenship.
“A lot of people are going to want to be in this country, and they’ll be able to work and provide jobs and build companies,” Trump said.
“It’ll be people with money.”Sales of the cards would start in about two weeks, Trump added.
“We’ll be able to sell maybe a million of these cards. We have it all worked out from a legal standpoint,” Trump added.
The billionaire former real estate tycoon said that all applicants for the new gold cards would be carefully vetted.
But asked if wealthy Russians would also be able to apply, Trump said it is a possibility.
“Possibly. I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It’s possible,” Trump said.
“They’re not as wealthy as they used to be. I think they can. I think they can afford $5 million.”
A number of Russian oligarchs have been hit by western sanctions since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
Trump has caused shock in European capitals by suddenly opening negotiations with Russia to end the war, amid fears that he could be willing to sell Ukraine short.
The US president told reporters that lifting sanctions on Russia was possible “at some point” but was not currently on the table.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, standing at Trump’s side in the Oval Office, said of the gold cards that “we can use that money to reduce our deficit.”
Trump, who has branded a series of hotels and casinos in a long business career, even suggested the new cards could also be named after him.
“Somebody said, ‘Can we call it the Trump gold card?’ I said, ‘If it helps, use the name Trump,’” he said.
AFP
