The House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review has proposed the creation of 31 additional states in Nigeria.
If approved, this will increase the number of states in the country from 36 to 67.
The proposal which was presented during Thursday’s plenary session to the Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, who presided in the absence of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Kalu, who also chairs the committee, detailed the proposed distribution of new states as: six in North Central, four in North East, five in North West, five in South East, four in South-South, and seven in South West.
Reading the committee’s letter, Kalu stated: “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 includes:”
Creating a new state requires the approval of at least a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.
Additionally, the House of Representatives, the State House of Assembly, and the Local Government Council must submit their approval to the National Assembly for the process to proceed. He said further.
Kalu emphasized that the process follows the constitutional guidelines laid out in Section 8 of the Nigerian Constitution, which governs state and local government creation.
“Local government advocates for the creation of additional local government areas are reminded that Section 8 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, applies to this process,” the letter stated.
The letter emphasized further that, “In accordance with Section 8 (3) of the Constitution, the outcome of the votes from the State Houses of Assembly in the referendum must be forwarded to the National Assembly for final consideration.”
The committee urged interested parties to ensure strict compliance with submission guidelines. Memoranda are to be submitted in three hard copies to the committee’s secretariat at Room H331, House of Representatives, White House, National Assembly Complex, Abuja. Soft copies should also be sent electronically to the committee’s officialemail address info.hccr.gov.nj.
For further inquiries, Kalu directed individuals to contact the Committee Clerk via the provided phone number (08069-232381).
Proposed New States includes: Okun, Okura, and Confluence (from Kogi), Benue Ala and Apa (from Benue), and FCT State, all from North Central.
Also, Amana (from Adamawa), Katagum (from Bauchi), Savannah (from Borno), and Muri (from Taraba), were proposed from North East.
In addition, New Kaduna and Gurara (from Kaduna), Tiga and Ari (from Kano), and Kainji (from Kebbi) were also proposed from North West.
Furthermore, Etiti, Orashi, Adada (from Enugu), Orlu, and Aba from South East.
Also in South-South, the Green chamber committee proposed Ogoja (from Cross River), Warri (from Delta), and Ori and Obolo (from Rivers).
Similarly, in the South Western zone, the house proposed: Torumbe (from Ondo), Ibadan (from Oyo), Lagoon (from Lagos), Ijebu (from Ogun), and Oke Ogun/Ijesha (from Oyo/Ogun/Osun).
However, the house committee assured Nigerians that only proposals meeting constitutional provisions and legal criteria would be considered.
“The committee remains committed to supporting the implementation of efforts that align with constitutional provisions and will only consider proposals that comply with stipulated guidelines,” the letter concluded.
