Government of Enugu State has commended the Federal Government for approving the relocation of the Enugu Correctional Centre located at the GRA, saying it is ready to partner with the central government to actualise it soonest.

The assurances were given by the governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, when he received members of the House of Representatives Committee on Reformatory Institutions in his office at the Government House, Enugu, on Wednesday.

He told the team led by the Committee Chairman, Hon. Chinedu Ogah that the state government had always advocated for the relocation of the facility, which was built in 1915, from the city centre to a more suitable location.

“It is highly commendable that the Federal Government has sanctioned the relocation of Enugu Correctional Center. This is something we have been advocating for. So, I think you have a real partner in the state government, as we have a coincidence of objective. So, we are going to anxiously be waiting to hear from you on how you want us to engage.

“We already have a survey, which we have done and we are more than happy to share the survey of the new location with you and we will take you to that location to see for yourselves,” Mbah stated.

Mbah called for the automation of the justice dispensing system to reduce the congestion of the correctional centres, highlighting the efforts of his administration to automate the justice system.

“On our part, we are not going to relent in the intervention we have made in the entire justice reform system.

“We have now fully automated our court processes and the idea is to ensure that there is speedy dispensation of justice because we also realised that a lot of the inmates we have in the correctional centres are those who are awaiting trial.

“If we can ensure speedy dispensation of justice, then we would also have to adjust these congested correctional centres significantly.

“That is essentially what we are doing with this automation of not just court processes, but also even the court proceedings.

“That is why I said full automation because even the longhand is no longer required in our courts because we now have verbatim reporters. This is a process we had started a year ago.

“We are happy it is now coming to a conclusion stage,” Mbah concluded.

In his remarks, Hon. Ogah commended Governor Mbah on improved security of lives and property in the state, stressing that “people can now drive through Enugu State at any time of the day without any fear.”

He added that the state government’s investment in security technology and effort of the correctional officers and security had ensured there was no jailbreak in Enugu State, and lauded the development strides of the governor, which he said were providing jobs, boosting economic development, and diminishing crimes.

The Committee welcomed the governor’s proactive approach to relocating the correctional centre through the provision of the proposed new site and also sought the support of the government in the area of vehicles for the conveyance of inmates to and fro trial sessions.

Sole Administrator of Rivers State, V. Admiral Ibok Ibas suspends all political appointees in Rivers State.

Those suspended include:

– Chief of Staff to RSGH

– SSG

– Commissioners

– Chairmen & Board members of Agencies, Councils commissions & Parastatals

– Special Advisers

The Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission for not outrightly rejecting the petition seeking her recall, describing the commission’s response as an indication of bias.

INEC, in a statement on Tuesday signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, confirmed receiving the petition, which reportedly contains signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the senatorial district.

However, the electoral body noted that the petition failed to include essential details such as the contact addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the petitioners, as required under the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.

In response, Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her lawyer, Victor Giwa, in a letter dated March 26, accused INEC of compromising its neutrality by offering guidance to the petitioners instead of declaring the petition incompetent due to its procedural flaws.

The letter partly reads, “Your position as disclosed in your press release on March 25, 2025, signed by Sam Olumekun shows that the Commission has taken sides and has become partial in favour of the Petitioners in this case.

“The Commission has observed that the Petitioners’ Petition did not meet the threshold of the requirement of a Petition to recall a member, having not contained the required contact addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses in their covering letter forwarding the Petition as contained in Clause 1(f) of INEC Regulation and Guideline. The proper thing and step to have been taken is to declare the Petition as “incompetent” and subsequently disregard same.”

The embattled lawmaker said the proper step INEC should have taken to show it was unbiased in the matter was to declare the petition defective, which would have brought an end to the process.

She added, “Lawfully, the Commission is supposed to have declared the Petition as incompetent for being patently defective for the reasons stated above but surprisingly, the Commission, instead of disregarding the Petition for failure to meet the requirements, opted to take the role of an adviser to the Petitioners and so advised the Petitioners that once they provide the needed information that is not contained in the Petition by meeting the requirements, it shall commence the verification of the signatures in each polling units.

“We posit that the Commission has by this press release shown partisanship and partiality in favour of the Petitioner and has compromised the process.

“The proper step to take by the Commission, if the Commission will maintain its integrity and impartiality, is to declare the Petition as incompetent and defective and notify the Petitioners accordingly. Therefore, putting an end to this process at this stage.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan also pointed out that the addresses provided in the petition were limited to Okene, Kogi State, suggesting that the alleged signatures did not represent the entire senatorial district.

“Secondly, the address disclosed and provided in the petition according to your press release was Okene Kogi State, meaning that the two hundred and fifty signatories as contained in the petition came only from Okene, Kogi state, which seems more probable, ” She said.

She insisted that INEC’s decision to allow the petitioners to correct their errors rather than disqualifying the petition outright was a breach of due process, urging the commission to “do the needful and rebuild the public trust that is fast declining.
We still believe that the Commission will act rightly”.