THE House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review has proposed the creation of 31 additional states across Nigeria.
If approved, it would increase the number of states in Nigeria to 67.
During Thursday’s plenary session, deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who presided in the absence of the speaker Tajudeen Abbas, read a letter outlining the recommendations of the committee.
Kalu, who also chairs the committee, detailed the proposed distribution of the new states, with six allocated to the North-Central, four to the North-East, five to the North-West, five to the South-East, four to the South-South, and seven to the South-West.
The House proposal for the creation of new states in Nigeria outlined a rigorous process that must be followed to meet the constitutional requirements.
The process involves securing the approval of at least a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, as well as endorsements from the House of Representatives, State Houses of Assembly, and Local Government Councils.
In accordance with Section 8 of the Nigerian Constitution, any new state creation must be preceded by a referendum conducted by the State Houses of Assembly.
The proposal also called for the resubmission of proposals in line with the prescribed guidelines, which includes submitting hard copies and electronic copies of memoranda to the committee’s secretariat.
The proposed new states require many contemporary states to concede much of their territories, with multiple states being proposed in Kogi, Benue, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, and Taraba, among others.
The proposed new states are New Kaduna and Gujarat from Kaduna State, Tiga and Ari from Kano, Kainji from Kebbi State, and Etiti, Orashi, Adada, and Orlu from the South-East.
Others are Okun, Okura, and Confluence states from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa states from Benue; Amana state from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi state; Savannah state from Borno; and Muri State from Taraba.
Also included are Lagoon from Lagos, Ogun, Ijebu from Ogun state as well as Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun States, Ogoja from Cross River State, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers, Torumbe from Ondo, and Ibadan from Oyo State.
Nigeria currently has 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The last time Nigeria created new states was in 1996, by the late Sani Abacha, a general. He created six new states namely Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara.
A reporter with the ICIR
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