Nigeria Content Online

The
National Economic Council (NEC) has decided to decongest prisons by
hastening the execution of inmates on death row, and commute some death
sentences to life terms.

According to the
Abia State governor, Theodore Orji, who spoke on the resolution of the
council yesterday, government is also determined to assist the
judiciary and police to reduce the number of inmates awaiting trial.
These inmates account for 80 per cent of the prison population.

The governor said
he believes that these measures will go a long way in decongesting
prisons and reducing incidences of jail breaks.

“There is no basis
that somebody who [has] not been committed, at least has not been
condemned, [should] be in prison for ten years for an offence committed
which the court has not ruled against him,” Mr, Orji explained. “So the
proper thing is to decongest the prison by looking at these cases and
leaving them to go. And that will also on the long run make sure that
this upheavals and protest that we have in the prisons are also taken
care of and curtailed adequately.”

Other decisions

The council
further decided that the N31 billion Universal Basic Education
Commission (UBEC) fund should be made accessible to states that are
still unable to provide their 50 percent counterpart funding. The fund
will given to commercial banks that will lend it to the states at a
single-digit interest rate.

On the problem of
multiple-taxation, the governors noted that this has led to higher
prices for commodities across the country. The council resolved that
states should do away with tax consultants or collectors and ensure
their boards of internal revenue do their professional duties while the
federal government properly coordinates and implements national tax
policies.

The council also
decided to replace the Workmen Compensation Act with a
recently-proposed Employees Compensation Bill that they hope will be
passed into law by the National Assembly. One per cent of the states’
and federal budget is to be committed to the implementation of the new
Act when it becomes law.

Meanwhile, a
central database of statistics is to be developed by the National
Bureau of Statistics with the support of the African Development Bank
and the United Nations Development Programme.

Seventeen states have already been linked to Abuja electronically
for the project which will gather data on all aspects of the nation
from federal to state levels for the purpose of proper planning of
policies.