Nigerian lawmakers propose creation of 31 additional states

Tamarauemi Ebimini

Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review on Thursday proposed the creation of 31 new states in the country.

If the proposal scales through, the Nigerian state will be made up of 67 sub-national governments as the country’s current states stand at 36, including the Federal Capital Territory.

The proposal for new states was contained in a letter read during Thursday’s plenary session by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the session in the absence of the Speaker, Mr. Tajudeen Abbas.

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.

“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 fulfillment of state,” the proposal partly reads.

According to the proposal, the 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 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; and 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, and Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun States.