Nigeria’s Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee has endorsed the establishment of six new states across the country.
This was among the major resolutions adopted at the conclusion of a two-day retreat in Lagos, jointly chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu.
During the session on Saturday, the committee reviewed 55 proposals for state creation and unanimously agreed that six new states should be established nationwide.
In total, the lawmakers considered 69 bills, 55 state creation proposals, two boundary adjustment requests, and 278 local government creation demands during the retreat.
“We have been in this process for the past two years, engaging our constituents, critical stakeholders, institutions, civil society organisations and interest groups in town hall meetings, interactive sessions and public hearings, harvesting and synthesising views and perspectives which has ultimately culminated in what we have here today – 69 bills, 55 state creation requests, two boundary adjustments and 278 local government creation requests,” Senator Barau was quoted in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir.
If the recommendation is implemented, Nigeria’s total number of states will increase from 36 to 42.
The decision provides for one new state to be created in each of the six geopolitical zones — North West, North East, North Central, South West, South South, and South East.
With this proposal, the South South and South West zones would each have seven states, the South East six, the North West eight, the North East seven, and the North Central seven.
