The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East geo-political zone.
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According to a statement issued by the media unit of the committee, the resolution was reached on Saturday during a two-day retreat in Lagos, where members reviewed 55 proposals for state creation across the country.
The session, chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, and co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, the Federal Government should create another state for the South-East region.
Kalu, who led other lawmakers in championing the move, argued that the creation of an additional state would give the people of the region a greater sense of belonging in the Nigerian federation.
When created, the South-East will be on par with the South-South, South-West, North-Central, and North-East zones, each of which currently has six states. The South-East remains the only geo-political zone with five states—Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.
For comparison, the North-West has seven states: Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Jigawa.
According to the statement, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) moved the motion for the creation of the new state, which was seconded by Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka (Ifo/Ewekoro Federal Constituency, Ogun State).
“The motion received unanimous support from committee members and was adopted,” the statement added.
In a related development, the committee also established a sub-committee to consider proposals for the creation of additional states and local government areas across all six geo-political zones. It disclosed that a total of 278 submissions were received for review.
Speaking at the event, Senator Jibrin urged members to rally support among their colleagues in the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly to ensure the resolutions succeed during the voting stage.
“We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process. By the time we get to the actual voting, we should already have the buy-in of all stakeholders—from both chambers and the state legislatures,” the Deputy Senate President stated.
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