By Ismail Auwal
The Nigerian Senate has denied media reports that the Senate Committee on Review of 1999 Constitution as amended has proposed the creation of additional 20 States.
A statement signed by the Senate spokesman, Senator Ajibola Basiru, said that the report was a gross misrepresentation of the decision of the committee on the many requests it received for creation of more states.
The statement noted that the concerned Senate Committee was not in a position to propose creation of more states in the federation as creation of states was predicated on certain constitutional requirements or provision that must be met.
Read the full statement below:
Senate Committee Did Not Propose Creation of 20 New States
Our attention has been drawn to a media report that the Senate Committee of Review of 1999 Constitution has proposed the creation of additional 20 States.
The report is a gross misrepresentation of the decision of the committee on the request for creation of more states. Far from recommending creation of any state, the Senate Committee, while acknowledging receipts of several Bills proposing creation of new states, decided that it is not in a position to recommend or proposed the creation of any state unless there is compliance with the provisions of section 8 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic as amended.
For ease of reference, Section 8 of the Constitution provides:
An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new State shall only be passed if-
(a) a request, supported by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new State) in each of the following, namely –
(i) the Senate and the House of Representatives,
(ii) the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and
(iii) the local government councils in respect of the area, is received by the National Assembly;
(b) a proposal for the creation of the State is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for creation of the State originated;
(c) the result of the referendum is then approved by a simple majority of all the States of the Federation supported by a simple majority of members of the Houses of Assembly; and
(d) the proposal is approved by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of members of each House of the National Assembly.
In view of the above, the Senate Committee is not in a position to propose creation of any state as reported. Rather the committee decided to refer the requests received to Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure compliance with section 8 of the Constitution by conducting referendum in the areas if the requests supported by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new State) in the Senate, the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly in the area.
“The above clarifications are imperative to set the record straight”, the statement added.
