House of Reps moves to amend Prisons Service Act to provide robust legal framework

By Musa Adamu

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, on Tuesday in Abuja restated the commitment of the legislature to provide robust legal framework that would promote effective service delivery of government agencies in the country.
Dogara gave the assurance at a two-day public hearing on a bill to repeal the Prisons Act 2004 and re-enact the Nigerian Prisons and Correctional service to make comprehensive provisions for the administration of prisons in Nigeria and seven others.
The public hearing was organised by the House of Representatives after reading the eight bills for second time between May 31, 2016 and Nov. 8, 2017.
Represented by the Deputy Chief Whip of the House, Rep. Pally Iriase, Dogara said that the House would continue to ensure that lacunas in the existing laws were addressed.
According to him, the House will continue to demonstrate the willingness to leave no stone unturned in identifying some lacunas in the existing laws.
The speaker, however, urged government agencies for which the bills were provided for to be committed to transparent in the implementation of the laws.
He said: “The agencies whose bills are considered constitute a critical component in our country’s security architecture and therefore cannot afford to fail.
“These bills are being considered at a time when the country is facing a delude of security challenges.
“All hands must therefore be on deck to make sure that we overcome these challenges.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Adams Jagaba, said that the bills sought to address noticeable gaps and obsolete provisions in the existing laws.
Jagaba said that there were series of complaints over the administration of prison service in the country.
He said: “It is the conviction of the committee that when the bills are finally passed into law, they will not only further strengthen the existing legal framework but will enhance service delivery of the concerned agencies.’