•Benjamin Kalu
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, yesterday warned the agitators for states creation not to be carried away by the announcement that the House Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution had received 30 proposals for the creation of new states.
Kalu, who spoke in an interview in Abuja yesterday, said the call for caution was informed by the hurdles the agitators for states creation must scale before their dreams can translate into reality, reports The Nation.
The deputy speaker, who chairs the House Committee on Constitution Review, also clarified proposals for new states received by the committee were 30 and not 31 as previously announced.
He said, however, that none of the proposals for new states currently before the House has met the constitutional requirements for state creation.
Kalu urged the applicants to comply with the constitutional procedures outlined in Section 8, subsections 1 to 3 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), saying that the parliament was giving the applicants for new states until March 5 to rectify the gaps in their applications.
To create a new state, the Constitution requires two-thirds majority vote in the Senate, the House of Representatives, State Houses of Assembly, and local governments.
The lawmaker said the parliament is committed to following the procedure and is inviting the applicants to resubmit their proposals once they have complied with the constitutional guidelines.
He said: “We are the people’s parliament. We are not taking any position on the issue of creation of states.
“We have heard a lot of people giving different narratives to the letter that was read.
“Let me clear the dust: during the Ninth Assembly, we received more requests for state creation, and some of them came through private member bills. Some came from the memoranda we called for.
“And in this Tenth Assembly, we have received 30, not 31. I think on that list, they repeated Ibadan State twice. It is 30 that we have received.
“But having received that, in the last assembly, people did not know why their request for state creation did not go through.
“In this Tenth Assembly, we decided to let the people know that granted we have received all the applications for new states to be created either through member bill or the memoranda, but not conceding that all of them are good enough to be created.
“There are constitutional procedures in section 8 subsection 1 to 3 on how this application should be made.
“As we speak, none of these 30 proposals have met the requirements of Section 8, and that was why we decided to bring it to the notice of Nigerians that your application before us is ineffective.
“Therefore, you need to comply with Section 8 so that when we don’t consider the state creation request, you will know where it emanated from.
“So, the notice to the public is that you have between now and March 5 to enable you cure the gaps in your application for state creation.
“And if you go to section 8, you will see two-thirds majority of the Senate, that of the House of Representatives, the State Houses of Assembly as well as the local government councils.
“So, let us follow that procedure and then present these applications again.”
He said his committee would be going to the newspapers to place public announcements so that those who desire new states can follow the guidelines laid down by the constitutional provisions.
He said: “We are giving them one month, which is about March 5, to cure the gaps in the applications.
“The applications as they are will not be able to fly because we are strict with complying with the dictates of the provisions of the constitution.
“They should fill in the gaps and bring it back before March 5.
“There is no alternative to compliance with the provisions of the constitution.
“The position of the constitution is sacrosanct; it is our ground norm.
“If it says you have to follow certain procedures in line with the rule of law and observing its supremacy, you have to comply with the provisions of the constitution.
“There is a window we have created, which is one month. It is sufficient for people to cure the gaps in their applications and we will reconsider them.”
The lawmaker said the deluge of requests for state creation might have emanated from the people’s desire for more dividends of democracy.
Reading the list of requests at plenary on Thursday, he had announced 32 new requests being considered, with Lagoon State from Lagos and Lagoon State from Lagos and Ogun appearing on the list.
But the Deputy Speaker said in yesterday’s interview that “we have received 30, not 31. I think, on that list, they repeated Ibadan State twice. It is 30 that we have received.
Even though the numbering on the document made available to newsmen had 31 states, a close observation revealed that New Kaduna State and Gurara State to be created from the present Kaduna State appeared on the same line.
“I think it reflects the desire to enjoy the dividends of democracy.
“People want the dividends of democracy to trickle down the grassroots and they feel in their minds that the best approach is to have their own state.
“So, if you watch the space closely, you will see the president has been very intentional in creating development commissions across the country.
“Beyond the feeling of marginalization is a desire to have the dividends of democracy felt at the grassroots more than before, and the instrument of state creation for some people is what they believe will be used as a tool to achieve that. That is what many Nigerians believe.
“The more states you create, the more they will have access to the dividends of democracy. Whether that is true or not is not for me to judge, because you know I am a presiding officer and the Chairman of the Committee on Constitution Review, and I can’t take a position.
“My position is to be the unbiased umpire who will listen to the desires of all Nigerians either through the bills presented to the parliament for constitutional amendment or the memoranda that we received from the public.
“So, when we do, we analyse and then take a position based on what the people want,” he said.
Reacting to the position of Afenifere that states be allowed to control their resources while making returns to the federal government instead of creating more states, the Deputy Speaker said the parliament would look at the merits and demerits of all proposals before it and accord it the wishes of Nigerians.
“Honestly, the parliament listens to all sides of narratives on any issue, and ours is to feel the pulse of the people, how they feel about an issue, and then analyse it through debates and the parliament will not take a position.
“We will not impose any position on Nigerians,” he said.
List of the proposed states as released by the HoR
NORTH-CENTRAL
BENUE ALA STATE from Benue State.
OKUN STATE from Kogi State
OKURA STATE from Kogi State
CONFLUENCE STATE from Kogi State
APA-AGBA STATE from Benue South Senatorial District
APA STATE from Benue State.
FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA
NORTH-EAST
AMANA STATE from Adamawa State.
KATAGUM STATE from Bauchi State.
SAVANNAH STATE from Borno State.
MURI STATE from Taraba State.
NORTH-WEST
NEW KADUNA STATE and GURARA STATE from Kaduna State.
TIGA STATE from Kano State.
KAINJI STATE from Kebbi State.
GHARI STATE from Kano State
SOUTH-EAST
ETITI STATE go be di sixth state for di South East geopolitical zone.
ADADA STATE from Enugu State.
URASHI STATE from South East geopolitical zone.
ORLU STATE from di South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
ABA STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
SOUTH-SOUTH
OGOJA STATE from Cross River State.
WARRI STATE from Delta State.
BORI STATE from Rivers State.
OBOLO STATE from Rivers and Akwa Ibom States.
SOUTH-WEST
TORU-EBE STATE from Delta, Edo, and Ondo States.
IBADAN STATE from Oyo State.
LAGOON STATE from Lagos State.
IJEBU STATE from Ogun State.
OKE-OGUN from Ogun State
IFE-IJESHA from Oyo and Osun states.
