Hot SourceNigeria’s Senate and House of Representatives joint committee has approved the creation of six additional states in the country.
This was one of the key resolutions reached at the end of the two-day retreat, co-chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, in Lagos.
The committee considered 55 requests for state creation on Saturday and unanimously resolved that six additional states be created in the country.
They considered a total of 69 bills, 55 state creation requests, two boundary adjustments, and 278 local government creation requests 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.
Accordingly, if the recommendation comes through, it would increase the number of states in the country from 36 to 42.
The resolution means that there would be the creation of one additional state in each of the six geopolitical zones: North West, North East, North Central, South West, South South and South East.
With the approval, South South will now have seven states, South West seven, South East six, North West eight, North East seven and North Central seven.
