More States To Be Created Soon

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.
They said the rotation should be between the
northern and southern regions.
It was also agreed by the delegates that in the
case of death, impeachment or incapacitation of
the President, the deputy would no longer
assume office automatically.
Rather, they said that the Vice President should
only act as President for a period of 90 days
within which another election should hold.
“In the absence of the death of the President, the
Vice President shall act as President for a period
of 90 days within which an election to the office
of the President shall be held,” the conference
said.
The delegates argued that since the office of the
President would be rotated among the six
geopolitical zones, it would be unfair to allow the
Vice President to take the turn of another zone
by automatically assuming power.
President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner from
Bayelsa State, had assumed the Presidency in
2010 following the death of former President
Umaru Yar’Adua, a northerner from Katsina
State.
The delegates rejected the proposal that the
President should be in office for a single term of
six years, and favoured the present arrangement
of two terms of four years each.
It was also agreed that the President and his
deputy should run on a joint ticket, thereby
rejecting the recommendation that the President
should pick his deputy among members of the
National Assembly after he must have won.
The conference also supported the bicameral
legislature. This implies that there would still be
the Senate and the House of Representatives.
It was also agreed that the office of the governor
should rotate among the three senatorial
districts in the state while the office of the
chairman of a local government council should
rotate among the components in the local
government areas.
The conference also recommended that that the
Independent National Electoral Commission
should divide each council to two or three equal
parts as the case maybe for the purpose of
electing the local government chairman.
The delegates rejected a motion that the number
of states in Nigeria should not be more than 55.
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.
The conference also said that a referendum
should be conducted in each of the states that
want to merge with 65 per cent of the eligible
voters in each of those states approving merger
and that the National Assembly, by resolutions
passed by a single majority of membership,
should approve such merger.
On the running of local governments, the
delegates said that states were free to create or
reduce the number of local governments within
their territory.
It was agreed that all government officials must
use made in Nigeria cars.
The conference also agreed that the old national
anthem, “Nigeria we hail thee…” should be
adopted in place of the current one.
Probably to show their preference for the old
anthem, all the delegates rose to sing it to the
surprise of the leadership of the conference.
Another delegate and a SAN, Chief Mike
Ozekhome, who spoke to one of our
correspondents after the plenary, said, “I stand
by the recommendation; we have recommended
that 18 more states and an additional state
should be created for the Igbo, they are the only
one with five states.
‘‘With 54 states I believe that government would
be brought closer to the people.”
However, a Nigerian Bar Association presidential
aspirant, Mrs. Funke Adekoya, SAN, said, “I don’t
think that creation of more states will solve the
problem of underdevelopment. I don’t think that
it will solve the problem of bureaucracy in the
society. What I think we should focus on is the
delivery of dividends of democracy to Nigerians. I
don’t support creation of more states.”