The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has given approval for the creation of six new states.
This approval was among key resolutions the committee took at the end of the two-day retreat, co-chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, in Lagos.
21st CENTURY CHRONICLE reports that the joint committee treated 69 bills, 55 state creation demands, two boundary adjustments, and 278 local government creation requests during the retreat.
If the requests for the new states scale through, the number of states in the country would increase from 36 to 42.
The committee recommended that each of the six states would be created from the six geopolitical zones zones.
The joint committee is expected to present the full resolution to both chambers of the National Assembly in the first week of November.
A principal officer said all lawmakers from both chambers supported the resolution of the states in the spirit of fairness and equity, adding that a subcommittee be created to identify areas from which the six additional states will be carved.
The Chief Whip of the State, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, who chairs the Senate Committee to identify the areas, said “we will meticulously review the 55 requests for state creation to come up with the areas where the six new states will be carved from. We will be fair and just to all the promoters of state creation.”
Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, Chairman of the Committee, said the National Assembly was committed to delivering people-centred and timely amendments to the 1999 Constitution.
He appealed to the lawmakers at the two-day joint retreat of the Senate and the House of Representatives’ Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in Lagos, to work towards attaining the promise made to transmit the first set of amendments to the State Houses of Assembly this year.
The retreat was meant to allow members of the joint committees to review the proposed amendments “clause-by-clause.”
“It has been a long journey to bring the Senate and the House of Representatives Constitution Amendment proposals that cut across several sections and dealing with different subject matters.”
“We have been in this process for the past two years, engaging our constituents, critical stakeholders, institutions, civil society organizations and interest groups; in town hall meetings, interactive sessions and public hearings, harvesting and synthesizing views and perspectives which has ultimately culminated to what we have here today – 69 bills, 55 state creations requests, two boundary adjustment and 278 Local Government creation requests,” Senator Barau was quoted in a statement by his spokesperson, Ismail Mudashir.
Senator Barau, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, said they would resolve these issues and make recommendations to their colleagues in both chambers.
