The South-South geo-political zone is leading the demand for new
states with 17 requests, two more added to the 15 earlier forwarded to the
National Assembly in 2012. The South-West Zone comes second with 15
requests, also with two more added to the 13 demanded in 2012.
•North-West 6;
•North-East 3;
•South-South 17;
•South-West 15;
•South-East 9A breakdown of the requests shows that the North-Central, which initially wanted 11 new states in addition to the six states it presently has, has increased its demand to 13 new states while the South-East has remained constant, coming fourth with a request for only nine more states.Interestingly, the North-West geo-political zone, which presently has seven states is asking for six more. This is a departure from an earlier request in the Sixth National Assembly for seven more states.The request for Bayajidda State, to be carved out of the present Katsina State was not listed in the requests for new states by the Senate CRC.Sunday Sun gathered that besides asking for more states, the region also wants the geo-political zone further divided into two. The argument is that the geo-political zone, based on its land mass, is too big to be categorized as just one.
•North-East 3;
•South-South 17;
•South-West 15;
•South-East 9A breakdown of the requests shows that the North-Central, which initially wanted 11 new states in addition to the six states it presently has, has increased its demand to 13 new states while the South-East has remained constant, coming fourth with a request for only nine more states.Interestingly, the North-West geo-political zone, which presently has seven states is asking for six more. This is a departure from an earlier request in the Sixth National Assembly for seven more states.The request for Bayajidda State, to be carved out of the present Katsina State was not listed in the requests for new states by the Senate CRC.Sunday Sun gathered that besides asking for more states, the region also wants the geo-political zone further divided into two. The argument is that the geo-political zone, based on its land mass, is too big to be categorized as just one.
Bringing up the rear is the North-East with requests for
only three more states. In apparent departure from what obtained in the Sixth
National Assembly when there was demand for New Borno State, that demand has
been dropped and replaced with the request for Savannah State by the Movement
for Creation of Savannah State.Requests for new states from all the six
geo-political zones which stood at 48 in the Sixth National Assembly rose to 58
as at July 31, 2012. Between then and the close of submission of memoranda, the
figure has risen to 61, according to records Sunday Sun obtained from the
Senate Committee on Constitution Review (CRC).The CRC stated: “We wish to note
in respect of all the requests that not all of the signatories are presently
serving as members of the Senate, House of Representatives, State Houses of
Assembly or Local Government Councils as required by section 8 (1) (a) of the
Constitution and in some cases, the memoranda was received long after the
official close of submission. As such, if the signatures of those that are no
longer serving at the various legislative levels are removed, the signatures of
the serving members will not satisfy the provisions of Section 8 (1) (a)(i
-iii).“In all, none of the requests for state creation at the close of receipt
of memoranda satisfied the requirement of Section 8 (1)(a)(i -iii) to justify a
recommendation for the next step in Section 8(1)(b) namely directing the
Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a referendum…”Meanwhile,
some senators told Sunday Sun that some members of the CRC were sharply divided
over states creation. Some lawmakers cited the looming bankruptcy of some of
the 36 states of the Federation, while others queried the rationale for pushing
for an additional state for only the South-East.Others insisted that
requests for new states were untenable because the country’s economy could not
support additional states.Agitators for creation of the 61 new states may
therefore have to wait as the Seventh National Assembly has effectively shut
the door on the exercise in the latest round of Constitution amendments.Investigations
by Sunday Sun indicated that besides the fact that the agitators did not meet
the criteria laid down in Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution (As amended), the
National Assembly Constitution Review Committee has concluded work with the
Senate CRC’s report before the whole House for debate.
The report, submitted by CRC Committee Chairman, Senator Ike
Ekweremadu noted that all the 61 requests failed constitutional
requirements. Ranking members on the Senate CRC confirmed to Sunday Sun
that “No state will be created this time around. Forget all the noise about
submission of memoranda.” Below is a breakdown of requests for creation of new
states as submitted to the National Assembly
South-South
1.
Ahoada State
– to be created out of the present Rivers State.
2.
Toru-Ebe
State – to be created out of the present Delta, Edo and Ondo States.
3.
Ogoja State
– to be created out of the present Cross River State
4.
Urhobo State
– to be created out of the present Delta State
5.
Minji-Se
State – to be created out of the present Rivers State
6.
Ado State –
to be created out of the present Delta State
7.
Confluence
State – to be created out of the present Kogi, Edo and Nasarawa States
8.
Bori State – to be created out of the present Rivers State
9&10.
Anioma State
– to be created out of the present Delta State. This request was presented by
two different groups viz-Movement for the Creation of Anioma State and Anioma
State Creation Movement
11.
Oil Rivers State – to be created out of the present Akwa Ibom and Rivers States
12.
Warri State
– to be created out of the present Delta State
13.
New Delta
State – to be created out of the present Delta State
14.
Ethiope
State – to be created out of the present Delta State
15.
Sombreiro
State – to be created out of the present Rivers State
16.
Coast State
– to be created out of the present Delta State.
17.
Itai State –
to be created out of the present Akwa Ibom State.
South-East
1.
Aba State –
to be created out of the present Abia State
2.
Adada State
– to be created out of the present Enugu State
3.
Orashi State
– to be created out of the present Imo and Anambra States
4.
Ugwuaku
State – to be created out of the present Imo, Abia, Anambra and Enugu States
5.
Etiti State
– to be created out of the present Enugu, Anambra, Imo and Abia States
6.
Equity State
– to be created out of the present Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi States
7.
Njaba State
– to be created out of the present Imo State
8.
Orimili
State – to be created out of the present Anambra State
9.
Anim State
(merger of Njaba and Orashi States) – to be created out of the present Imo and
Anambra States.
South-West
1.
Toru-Ebe
State – to be created out of the present Delta, Edo and Ondo State
2.
New Oyo
State – to be created as part of the states of the Federation of Nigeria
3.
Remo-Ijebu
State – to be created out of the present Ogun State
4.
Ijesha State
– to be created out of the present Osun State (This request was presented by
two separate groups -Ijesha State Creation Movement and Movement for the
Creation of Ijesha State)
5.
Oduduwa
State – to be created out of the present Osun State
6.
Ijebu State
– with Ijebu Ode as the capital
7.
Ibadan State
– to be created out of the present Oyo State
8.
Yewa State –
to be created out of the present Ogun State
9.
Ose State –
to be created out of the present Ondo State
10.
Ijesha State
– to be created out of present Osun State
11.
Lagoon State
– to be created out of the present Lagos State
12.
Oluwa State
– to be created out of the present Ondo State
13.
Oke-Ogun
State – to be created out of the present Oyo State
14.
Igbomina State
– to be created out of the present Osun and Kwara States.
15.
Ilaje State
– to be created out of the present Ondo State
North-West
1.
Gurara State
– to be created out of the present Kaduna State
2.
New Kaduna
State – to be created out of the present Kaduna State
3.
Tiga State –
to be created out of the present Kano State
4.
Ghari State
– to be created out of the present Kano State
5.
Karaduwa
State – to be created out of the present Katsina State
6.
Hadejia
State – to be created out of the present Jigawa State
North-Central
1.
Apa State –
to be created out of the present Benue State
2.
Kainji State – to be created out of the present Niger State
3.
Edu State –
to be created out of the present Niger and Kwara States
4.
Confluence
State – to be created out of the present Kogi, Edo and Nasarawa States
5.
Okura State
– to be created out of the present Kogi State
6.
Borgu State
– to be created out of the present Kebbi, Kwara and Niger States
7.
Okun State –
to be created out of the present Ekiti, Ondo, Kwara and Kogi States
8.
Lowland State – to be created out of the present Plateau State
9.
South
Plateau State – to be created out of the present Plateau State
10.
Gboko State
– to be created out of the present Benue State
11.
Binda State
– to be created out of the present Benue State
12.
Kabba State
– to be created out of the present Kogi State
13.
Katsina-Ala
State – to be created out of the present Benue and Taraba States.
North-East
1.
Katagum State
– to be created out of the present Bauchi State
2.
Amana State
– to be created out of the present Adamawa State
3.
Savanah
State – to be created out of the present Borno State.
Seventeen requests that attempted meeting the requirements
of section 8 (1) (a) (i-iii), according to the committee.
1.
Aba
State 2.
Adada
State 3.
Ado State
4.
Apa
State 5.
Bori
State 6.
Edu State
7.
Ghari
State 8.
Gurara
State 9.
Hadeija
State
10.
Ijebu
State 11.
Katagum
State 12.
Minji-se
State
13.
New Delta
State 14.
Oduduwa
State 15.
Oluwa State
16.
Savannah
State 17.
Sombreiro
State.
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