By Uche Amunike
The House of Representatives Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution has proposed the creation of 31 more States in the country.
A letter from the committee which contained the proposed new states was read during plenary on Thursday by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary.
The letter read: ‘This is to inform members that the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), has received legislative proposals for the creation of states and local governments in the following order: NORTH-CENTRAL
1. BENUE ALA STATE from the present Benue State.
2. OKUN STATE from the present Kogi State
3. OKURA STATE from the present Kogi State
4. CONFLUENCE STATE from the present Kogi State
5. APA-AGBA STATE from Benue South Senatorial District
6. APA STATE from the present Benue State.
7. A 37th state, namely FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA
NORTH-EAST
8. AMANA STATE from the present Adamawa State.
9. KATAGUM STATE from the present Bauchi State.
10. SAVANNAH STATE from the present Borno State.
11.MURI STATE from the present Taraba State.
NORTH-WEST
12.NEW KADUNA STATE and GURARA STATE from the present Kaduna State.
13. TIGA STATE from the present Kano State.
14. KAINJI STATE from the present Kebbi State.
15. GHARI STATE from the present Kano State
SOUTH-EAST
16. ETITI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
17. ADADA STATE from the present Enugu State of Nigeria.
18. URASHI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
19. ORLU STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
20. ABA STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
SOUTH-SOUTH
21. OGOJA STATE from the present Cross River State.
22. WARRI STATE from the present Delta State.
23. BORI STATE from the present Rivers State
24. OBOLO STATE from the present Rivers and Akwa Ibom States.
SOUTH-WEST
25. TORU-EBE STATE from the present Delta, Edo, and Ondo States.
26. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
27. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State.
28. IJEBU STATE from the present Ogun State.
29. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State and Ogun State
30. IFE-IJESHA STATE from the present Oyo State.
31. OKE-OGUN from the present-day Ogun, Oyo, and Osun states.’
This proposal for the creation of new States can only be possible if at least the third majority of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives (National Assembly) as well as the House of Assembly in respect of the area and Local Government Council, is received by the National Assembly.
Meanwhile, the proposal was rejected by the Yoruba socio-cultural organization, as well as its northern counterpart, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) both describing it as ridiculous.
The National Organizing Secretary of Afenifere, Abagun Kole Omololu stated that the proposed state creation negates their association’s demand for true federalism and maintained that instead of addressing the major structural issues that are bedeviling the country, this proposal of more states will further weaken governance and deepen economic inefficiencies, while worsening the financial burden on the country, because many existing states are already struggling to generate enough Internally Generated Revenue, even as they rely heavily on federal allocations to survive.
ACF, on their part, strongly opposed the initiative, which they described as unnecessary. According to the National Publicity Secretary, Prof Tukur Mohammed-Baba, if more states are created, more demands will emerge, which will lead to more acrimony.
He maintained that creating more states would be too costly and only end up providing opportunities for the elite to assume leadership positions without really improving the economic viability of the states.
