Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo has disclosed that over 4,000 inmates were being held in custodial centres across Nigeria for their inability to pay fines as low as N50,000.
Tunji-Ojo disclosed this while speaking at the Access Bank Guest Lecture Series (GLS) held at the bank’s headquarters in Victoria Island, Lagos State, on Friday, May 23, 2025.
The minister, who spoke about the broken state of Nigeria’s correctional system, said: “This is not a legal crisis. It is a moral one.
“A society that punishes poverty more harshly than crime has lost its moral compass.”
Tunji-Ojo explained that the Ministry of Interior has since partnered private donors to secure the release of many of these non-violent offenders and is now pursuing structural reforms that prioritise rehabilitation over punishment.
According to him, these included digital case tracking to prevent indefinite detention, vocational training programmes within correctional centres, and public-private partnerships aimed at improving living conditions and operational efficiency.
“A correctional facility must correct, not condemn. Justice without dignity is injustice in disguise,” the minister was quoted to have said in a statement issued by Access Bank on Monday, May 26.