- Constitution Review Joint Committee okays independent candidacy
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The quest for an additional state in the South East yesterday received a boost from the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review as members unanimously endorsed the request.
The South East currently has five states, namely Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, which is one short of the six in each of the South-South, South West, North Central and North East, and two short of the seven in the North West.
The committee’s endorsement came at a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed requests for 55 new states across the country.
The session, chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and co-chaired by House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, deliberated extensively on the matter.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) moved the motion for the creation of the new state with Representative Ibrahim Isiaka (Ifo/Ewekoro, Ogun State) seconding it.
The motion received the unanimous support of committee members and was accordingly adopted.
The joint committee constituted a subcommittee to consider the requests for the creation of additional states and local government areas across all six geopolitical zones.
The committee is made up of one Senator and one Rep per state.
The Nation gathered that the committee also approved independent candidates for all elections and one additional seat for women in each state for the Red and Green chambers of the National Assembly.
Speaking at the retreat, DSP Jibrin urged members to rally support among their colleagues at the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly to ensure the resolutions sail through during voting.
“We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process,” Jibrin said.
“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 Houses of Assembly.”
Speaking at the opening of the retreat on Friday, Jibrin said the National Assembly had received a total of 55 requests for new states and 278 for additional local government areas (LGAs) nationwide.
He asked lawmakers to focus on transmitting the first batch of amendments to the state Houses of Assembly before the end of the year, underlining the urgency of the process.
“It has been a long journey to bring the Senate and the House of Representatives’ Constitution Amendment proposals that cut across several sections and deal with different subject matters,” he said.
Jibrin highlighted that over the past two years, lawmakers had engaged constituents, civil society groups, institutions, and interest groups through town hall meetings, interactive sessions, and public hearings, culminating in 69 bills, 55 state creation requests, two boundary adjustments, and 278 local government creation requests.
The committee is tasked with reviewing these proposals, resolving contentious issues, and making recommendations to both chambers. Jibrin expressed optimism that meaningful progress could be achieved during the retreat, even though the exercise was complex.
He stressed the importance of patriotism and unity in the deliberations, urging participants to prioritise national interests over regional or political divides.
“There should be no ‘we’ and ‘them’; we should be guided by the interests of Nigerians,” he said, calling for recommendations that meet the approval threshold outlined in Section 9 of the Constitution.
Kalu and other lawmakers from the South East had said their request was anchored on principles of equity, justice and fairness.
Senator Izunaso applauds committee’s action
Reacting yesterday to the joint committee’s action, Senator Osita Izunaso (Imo West (Orlu) hailed it as a welcome development, which he said would boost the fortunes of the region and calm frayed nerves.
“It’s a good thing. It’s something we have been expecting. It’s something we have been pushing for a long time, and I’m glad that the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on the Constitution Amendment today (yesterday) approved that,” he told The Nation on the phone.
He said the creation of the new state would bring a lot of benefits to the South East.
“For a start, the South East is the only region in the country that has five states. So this is not just one state for the Southeast; it’s just equality of state so that all the zones can have six states.
“Regardless of the fact that one zone has seven. That is okay.
“I’m glad about it. And it is something that will promote unity in the country, bring about more cohesion and more corporate action for the country. So I’m glad about it.”
Enumerating the specific benefits of the proposed state, Izunaso said: “Southeast has only 15 senators. All the other zones have 18 and 21. If the Southeast has an additional state, they will also have 18 senators, have more seats in the House of Representatives, have more local government areas and more seats in the House of Assembly.
“Even in terms of revenue, Southeast will get more revenue from the Federation. And a lot of other things will come to the region. So it is a win-win situation. It’s not anything that somebody shouldn’t be happy about.”
He added that the development would also bring an end to agitations in the region.
“Those people who are agitating for one thing or the other, if an additional state is given to the South East, what again will they be agitating for?”
Asked how the decision was reached considering that the proposal had faced strong opposition before now, Senator Izunaso said: “Well, it was resolved because we had to appeal to the conscience of all the other people that were there.
“There were a lot of other agitations. And we didn’t say no to other people who are agitating for states.
“We didn’t say no because some places are having genuine agitations. But what we canvassed was, let us first of all equalize the number of states per geopolitical zone. Thereafter, every other zone that wants an additional state can be considered based on the merits.
“And they are doing it. So it’s an open-ended thing. The South East having got this one, it doesn’t stop other states that have genuine agitation from getting it, including the South East again.
“So it is just to appeal to the conscience of our people because what is fair is fair.
“Today, President Tinubu has approved development commissions for all the six geo-political zones. So even if we are talking about regional government in one way or the other, then let us have equality of states within those regions. That’s what I’m saying.
“And you know, when the military were creating these states, they didn’t have any sense of balancing. But in a democratic dispensation, we’re saying let there be fairness, let there be equality.
“That’s the only thing that we agitated for. And our colleagues bought into it and approved it.”
But he expressed concern over additional seats for women.
His words: “Well, you know, to me, women have been agitating. They have looked at other climes and are agitating that additional seats be given to women, particularly in the parliament. So the advantage of it is that more women will be represented.
“Today in the Senate, we have only about four women, which is less than 5% of the senators in the 10th Senate. So if we have additional women coming from this divide we’re talking about, it might even increase their number to 10% or more.
“The most important thing is that we didn’t throw it out. We said, okay, we’ve accepted. But it’s still going back to the floor of the two chambers.
“But the most important thing is that we have accepted to give them one seat at the geopolitical zone. But even how that would be achieved might still be a problem.
