The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review has proposed the creation of 31 additional states in Nigeria.
The proposal was formally presented to the House of Representatives through a letter read during Thursday’s plenary session by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who stood in for SpeakerTajudeen Abbas.
The committee chaired by Kalu proposed six new states for North Central, four in the North East, five in the North West, five in South East, four in South-South and seven in South West.
The letter read in part: “The committee proposes the creation of 31 new states. As amended, this section outlines specific requirements that must be fulfilled to initiate the process of state creation, which include the following: 1. New state and boundaries.
“An act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new state shall only be passed if it requires support by at least the third majority of members.
“2. The House of Representatives, the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and the Local Government Council in respect of the area are received by the National Assembly.
“Local government advocates for the creation of additional local government areas are only reminded that Section 8 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, applies to this process.
“Specifically, in accordance with Section 8 (3) of the Constitution, the outcome of the votes of the State Houses of Assembly in the referendum must be forwarded to the National Assembly for fulfilment of state demands.
“Proposals shall be resubmitted in strict adherence to the stipulations. Submit three hard copies of the full proposal of the memoranda to the Secretariat of the Committee at Room H331, House of Representatives, White House, National Assembly Complex, and Abuja.
“Sub-copies must also be sent electronically to the Committee’s email address at info.hccr.gov.nj. For further information or contact, please contact the Committee Clerk at 08069-232381.
“The committee remains committed to supporting the implementing efforts that align with the Constitutional provisions and would only consider proposals that comply with the stipulated guidelines. This is coming from the Clerk of the Committee on Constitutional Review.
“The proposed new states are Okun, Okura and Confluence states from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa states from Benue; FCT state; Amana state from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi states and Savannah states from Borno and Muri State from Taraba.
“Others are New Kaduna and Gujarat from Kaduna State; Tiga and Ari from Kano, and Kainji from Kebbi State; Etiti and Orashi as the 6th state in the South East Adada from Enugu, Orlu and Aba from the South East.
“Also included are Ogoja from Cross River State, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers; Torumbe from Ondo; Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos, Ogun, Ijebu from Ogun state as well as Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun States.”
If approved by the lawmakers, Nigeria’s administrative structure will comprise 67 sub-national governments.
Persecondnews recalls that this is not the first attempt at creating new states, as similar initiatives have been made in the past.
In August 2021, the Senate Committee on Constitution proposed creating 20 new states and recommended that INEC should conduct a referendum on the issue.
Some of the proposed states include ITAI State (from Akwa Ibom State); State status for the FCT; Katagum State from Bauchi State; Okura State from Kogi East; Adada State from Enugu State; Gurara State from Kaduna South; and Ijebu State from Ogun State.
Others include Ibadan State from Oyo State; Tiga State from Kano State; Ghari State from Kano State; Amana State from Adamawa; Gongola State from Adamawa; Mambilla State from Taraba State; Savannah State from Borno State; and Okun state from Kogi State.
Others on the list are Etiti State from the South East Zone; Orashi State from Imo and Anambra states; Njaba from the present Imo State or the excision of Aba State from Abia State; Anioma State from Delta State; Torogbene and Oil River States, from Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states; and Bayajida State from parts of Katsina, Jigawa and Zamfara states.
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