Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has declared his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government, urging all stakeholders to do the same for the success of the country. According to him, when the citizens fail to support the President, Nigeria fails, and when the country fails, everyone has failed.
Fubara issued this declaration as he urged for a swift investigation of the individuals arrested for various offenses, ensuring they undergo a fair legal process to prevent them from being unjustly placed on the pretrial detention list.
He mentioned that this would increase the pressure on both the Nigeria Police Force and the Judiciary to meet the challenge of ensuring their institutions operate efficiently in achieving their goals of reducing prison populations and delivering justice.
Fubara emphasized that this strategy would significantly help address the problem of overcrowded prisons with inmates awaiting trial nationwide, including the financial costs associated with their maintenance.
The governor made this announcement during his meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions, chaired by Chinedu Ogah, during a visit to the Government House in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Fubara’s statement was made available to newsmen on Monday through his Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi.
Speaking further, the Governor said: “I know that the State Government, from time to time, I mean, through the Chief Judge, had visited the Correctional Centres, and after evaluation, and I have seen a few letters he has written about what he saw on his visit, and having confirmed, and accessed a few of the inmates, he had granted them either bail or pardon.
“But this issue goes back to one major thing: institutions that we call the Police Force and the Judiciary. Most of these issues that we are talking about; overcrowding of the Correctional Centres, might be due to delay in the trial of their cases. That is the truth.
“The other aspect is that you arrest somebody wrongfully or whatever, and the process of investigation takes two, three, four years. So, we need to make sure that our institutions are functioning effectively. If they are functioning effectively, I strongly believe that most of these issues of over-crowding of the Correctional Centres won’t be there.”
Fubara added, “But, this is where we are, and we will continue to encourage our system to do it better. Maybe, if we had made these complaints earlier, some of the corrections would have been done.
“So, now that we are saying it, I believe they are hearing, and they will expedite action to make sure that some of these things are put to check.”
Fubara stressed that his government is focused on the needs of Rivers people, adding that while addressing those needs, it is also mindful of the importance of properly integrating ex-convicts into the society.
The Rivers State Governor, however, advised, “We also need to ensure that proper evaluations are done to ensure that we are not endangering our people.
“It is not just to say we need to reintegrate them. We also need to do the proper thing to make sure that when they leave the centres, they can fit into society.
“I think even in the Correctional Centres, they have vocational activities there. Some of them have the opportunity of running academic programmes online.
“So, first of all, they should also show this commitment that they want to change, that they want to be part of the system, coming back to the society, and we as a government, will do all we can make it possible.”
The Governor was pleased that matters concerning the correctional facilities drew the focus of the National Assembly, indicating that the government is active and fulfilling its duties.
Fubara also showed gratitude to the committee members for their visit and recognized the limited successes of his administration thus far, especially in lowering crime rates in the State from the previous situation.
He said, “It goes to say just one thing: we know what the problem is, and we are tackling the problem from the root cause.
“What is the problem associated with crime: unemployment, insecurity. This insecurity is economic insecurity and that is what causes crime.
“It is a global issue, though but as a State, we will continue to do our best to see to it that our youths are engaged meaningfully, and are discouraged from associating with anything that will bring a bad image to our State.”
Fubara explained that his administration has continued to support the Controller of the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre with monthly subvention to assist in the day-to-day running of his office as well as other levels of assistance.
The Governor noted that most of the correctional centres were built over 80 years ago when nobody envisaged that the number of inmates would increase astronomically as witnessed now.
But he said that what the Federal Government is doing in the state by building new facilities to house inmates and the plan to relocate correctional centres in the city centre will be something to support.
