The Nigeria Correctional Service, NCS, has revealed that awaiting trial inmates account for 64 per cent of the total custodial population across the country, a development that highlights the persistent congestion in correctional facilities nationwide.

The Controller-General of the Service, Sylvester Nwakuche, disclosed this on Wednesday while presenting the agency’s 2025 budget performance and 2026 estimates before the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions at the National Assembly, Abuja.

Nwakuche stated that as of February 9, 2026, the total inmate population stood at 80,812. Of this number, 51,955 are awaiting trial inmates, 24,913 are convicted inmates, while 3,850 fall under other detention categories.

The figures according to him reflect the sustained pressure on custodial centres, many of which were constructed decades ago and now operate far beyond their designed capacity.

Nwakuche described the Nigeria Correctional Service as a critical component of the criminal justice system, saddled with responsibility for custodial and non-custodial services, safe custody of legally detained persons, as well as their rehabilitation and reintegration into society as law-abiding citizens.

He added that the Service is mandated to ensure inmates are adequately fed in line with the United Nations Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Offenders.

On the 2025 budget performance, the Controller-General said the Service received a total appropriation of ₦184.63bn, covering personnel, overhead and capital expenditure.

Out of the ₦124.31bn approved for personnel costs, ₦112.68bn, representing 90.6 per cent, was released and fully utilised for salaries, pensions and health insurance contributions under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

Recurrent overhead releases stood at 73.7 per cent, with the last tranche for October 2025 released in December.

From the funds received, ₦27.28bn, representing 71.7 per cent, was spent on inmate feeding nationwide, while outstanding obligations for food rations stood at ₦10.75bn.

Additionally, ₦6.49bn was expended on operational costs, including staff training, fuelling of operational vehicles for court duties, electricity, security services and facility maintenance.

Capital funding recorded the lowest level of implementation. Of the ₦14.50bn appropriated for capital projects, only ₦3.22bn, representing 22.2 per cent, was released and utilised, leaving ₦11.27bn unreleased.

Nwakuche stressed that capital expenditure is crucial for the construction and rehabilitation of custodial centres, procurement of operational vehicles, arms and security equipment, ICT systems, inmate biometric capture and agricultural inputs for prison farm centres.

Despite not being a revenue-generating agency, the Service realised ₦84.65m as internally generated revenue in 2025.