Confab Endorses Creation Of Aba, Ijebu, 17 Other States

The National Conference on Thursday voted for the creation of 18 more states in the country. The creation of new states was one of the decisions taken by the delegates at their plenary while considering the report of the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government.

Apart from the 18 new states proposed, the conference said a separate state-yet-to-be named should be carved out of the South-East to bring the number of the states in the zone to six.

In creating a new state from the South-East geopolitical zone, the conference said the creation would correct the imbalance of the zone having the least number of states.

In the existing 36 states arrangement, each zone has six states with only the North-West having seven states.

The new states proposed by the conference are: Aba, to be carved out of the present Abia State; Katagum, from Bauchi State; Ijebu, from Ogun State; Amana, from former Sardauna Province; Apa, from Benue State; Anioma, from Delta State, Savannah, from Borno State; and Etiti, from South-East.

Others are Njaba/Anim, from Anambra and Imo states; Gurara, from Kaduna State; Ghari, from Kano State; Adada, New Oyo from Oyo State; Orachi, from Rivers State; Ogoja, from Cross River State; and Kainji, from Kebbi and Niger states.

Two other states, one each from the South-East and South-West zones, are also yet to be named.

It was agreed by the delegates that the 18 new states would be shared among the six zones in a manner that no zone would have more states than the other.

Though it was also agreed that states were free to have their constitutions, the request to change the name of Adamawa State to Gongola State was overwhelmingly rejected by the delegates.

The delegates also voted that the Presidency should rotate among the six geopolitical zones of the country.

However, a delegate, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, condemned the decision to create more states.

He said the action was at variance with the decisions and resolutions earlier taken by the conference on the need by government to cut cost.

“Having regard to the several resolutions of the National Conference on the need to reduce the cost of governance, I found the recommendation for the creation of additional 18 states rather contradictory,” Falana said.

Punch