By Gift ChapiOdekina

The House of Representatives Constitution Review Committee has proposed creating 31 additional states in addition to the country’s 36 existing states.

The committee contained this in a letter to the House of Representatives, which was read during plenary by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary session in Abuja.

According to the committee, it is proposing an additional six new states in the North Central, four in the North East, five in the North West, five in the South-South, and seven in the South West.

The states being considered include Okun State, Okura State, and Confluence State from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa States from Benue; FCT State; Amana State from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi State; Savannah State from Borno; and Muri State from Taraba.

The states also include New Kaduna State and Gujarat State from Kaduna State; Tiga and Ari from Kano; Kainji from Kebbi State; Etiti and Orashi as the 6th state in the Southeast; Adada from Enugu; and Orlu and Aba from the Southeast.

Others are Ogoja from Cross River, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers, Torumbe from Ondo, Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos, and Ogun, Ijebu from Ogun, and Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun states.

The letter reads, “As amended, this section outlines specific requirements that must be fulfilled to initiate the process of state creation, which include the following:. New state and boundaries. 1. An act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new state shall only be passed if it requires support by at least the third majority of members.

“The House of Representatives, the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and the Local Government Council in respect of the area is received by the National Assembly. Local government advocates for the creation of additional local government areas are only reminded that Section 8 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, applies to this process.

“Specifically, in accordance with Section 8.3 of the Constitution, the outcome of the votes of the State Houses of Assembly in the referendum must be forwarded to the National Assembly for fulfilment of state demands.

“Proposals shall be resubmitted in strict adherence to the stipulations. Submit three hard copies of the full proposal of the memoranda to the Secretariat of the Committee in Room H331, House of Representatives, White House, National Assembly Complex, and Abuja. Sub-copies must also be sent electronically to the Committee’s email address at info.hccr.gov.nj.

“The committee remains committed to supporting the implementing efforts that align with the constitutional provisions and would only consider proposals that comply with the stipulated guidelines.