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The Joint Committee on Constitution Review of the Senate and the House of Representatives has recommended the creation of six additional states, according to information obtained yesterday.
This recommendation was part of the major resolutions reached during a two-day retreat jointly presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, in Lagos.
At the retreat, the committee reviewed 69 constitutional amendment bills, 55 state creation proposals, two boundary adjustment requests, and 278 applications for the creation of new local government areas.
After evaluating the 55 proposals for new states, the committee reached a unanimous decision that six new states should be created.
If the recommendation is approved, Nigeria will have 42 states instead of the current 36.
Under the proposal, one new state will be created in each of the six geopolitical zones: Northwest, Northeast, Northcentral, Southwest, Southsouth, and Southeast.
This means the Southsouth will have seven states; the Southwest, seven; the Southeast, six; the Northwest, eight; the Northeast, seven; and the Northcentral, seven.
The committee’s resolution will be part of a report expected to be presented to both chambers of the National Assembly in the first week of November.
A senior lawmaker disclosed that all members of both chambers unanimously supported the proposal in the spirit of fairness and equity.
He also revealed that a sub-committee would be set up to determine the specific areas from which the six new states will be created.
The Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, has been appointed to chair the Senate Committee responsible for identifying those areas.
A member of the sub-committee from the Northwest assured that the team will thoroughly review all 55 state creation requests submitted to the National Assembly to identify where the six proposed states will emerge from.
He said, “We will meticulously review the 55 requests for state creation to come up with the areas where the six new states will be carved from.
“We will be fair and just to all the promoters of state creation.”
Creating new states requires an amendment to the Constitution.
Such an amendment must be supported by two-thirds of the National Assembly and endorsed by two-thirds of the Houses of Assembly in the 36 states.
Attempts to contact Dr Innocent Mebiri, the Clerk of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, were unsuccessful as his mobile line was unreachable.
In recent months, the demand for new states has grown stronger across several regions.
A group from Delta North has already produced a map proposing Anioma State as the sixth state for the Southeast.
In Oyo State, the agitation for Ibadan State was presented directly to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the coronation ceremony of Oba Rahidi Ladoja as the 44th Olubadan.
Oba Ladoja personally made the appeal to the President.
He added that it is the collective wish of his people that Ibadan State should be created from Oyo State before or by 2027.
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