Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has signed into law a bill establishing 29 additional local government areas (LGAs) in the state, bringing the total number of LGAs to 49, pending ratification by the National Assembly.
According to documents obtained by Daily Trust, the Acting Deputy Clerk of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Musa Yerima, has written to the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review, chaired by Senator Barau Jibrin, seeking federal approval for the creation of the new local councils as part of the ongoing constitutional amendment process.
Bauchi currently has 20 LGAs recognized under the 1999 Constitution. The proposed expansion aims to improve governance, service delivery, and grassroots development across the state, which has an estimated population of about 10 million people.
In the letter addressed to Senator Jibrin, Yerima stated:
“I am pleased to inform you that the Bauchi State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill to provide for the creation of 29 new additional local government areas in Bauchi State, 2025.
The additional Local Government Areas are inchoate until such time as the National Assembly shall pass an Act to make consequential provisions with respect to the names of the said additional Local Government Areas as provided for under Section 8(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He further noted that the legislation was enacted in accordance with Subsection 3 of Section 100 of the Constitution, which empowers state legislatures to pass such bills subject to federal ratification.
The request now awaits consideration by the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Constitutional Review, which will determine whether to approve the inclusion of the new LGAs in the Nigerian Constitution.
If ratified, Bauchi would become one of the states with the highest number of local government areas in the country.
