The National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Constitution Review has approved the creation of six new states in Nigeria, one in each of the six geopolitical zones. This approval was made after reviewing 55 state creation requests, in a two day retreat in Lagos on Friday October 24 and Saturday October 25, and if passed, it would increase the number of states from 36 to 42.
Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Senator representing Borno North, has been assigned to chair a subcommittee set up to identify the specific areas for the new states.
“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,” Senator Monguno has promised.
The final report is expected to be presented to the Senate and House of Representatives in the first week of November.
If approved, the distribution of the states in each geo-political zones will now be South South, South West, North East, North Central, all which currently has 6 states each; South South (Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Rivers), South West (Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo), North East (Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe), North Central (Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau) increasing to 7 states each, South East which currently has 5 states (Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Abia, Enugu) increasing to 6, and North West currently with 7 states (Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara) increasing to 8 states.
