House Committee Receives 31 Proposals for New States

The House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution has announced that it has received a total of 31 proposals for the creation of new states across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.

During Thursday’s plenary, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu presented a letter from the committee, which highlighted the conditions that must be met for any state creation requests to be considered and approved.

The proposals, according to the letter, are distributed across the country as follows: five from the North Central, four from the North East, five from the North West, five from the South East, four from the South South, and seven from the South West.

Among the proposed states are Okun, Okura, and Confluence from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa from Benue; the proposed Federal Capital Territory (FCT) State; Amana from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi; Savannah from Borno; and Muri from Taraba. Additionally, proposals for New Kaduna and Gujarat states from Kaduna; Tiga and Ari from Kano; and Kainji from Kebbi are being considered. Other proposals include Etiti and Orashi as the 6th state for the South East, along with Adada from Enugu and Orlu and Aba from the region.

The South-South region also has proposals for Ogoja from Cross River, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers, as well as Torumbe from Ondo. In the South West, proposals include Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos, and Ogun and Ijebu from Ogun, alongside Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo, Ogun, and Osun states.

The committee emphasized that Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, outlines the necessary requirements for initiating the process of state creation. Local government advocates requesting the creation of additional local government areas were reminded that Section 8 applies to this process.

As per Section 8.3 of the Constitution, the votes of State Houses of Assembly in the referendum must be forwarded to the National Assembly for the fulfillment of state demands. The committee also specified that all proposals should be resubmitted in full compliance with the guidelines, with three hard copies of the proposals and memoranda to be submitted to the Secretariat of the Committee at Room H331, House of Representatives, White House, National Assembly Complex in Abuja.

Additionally, electronic copies must be sent to the Committee’s email address at info.hccr.gov.nj.

The committee reaffirmed its commitment to supporting initiatives that align with constitutional provisions, adding that it will only consider proposals that strictly adhere to the outlined guidelines.