The House of Representatives has set the record straight on the bill to create additional states which is before it.
The clarification follows mixed reactions the proposal generated, with Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, and its Northern counterpart, Arewa Consultative Forum, taking a dim view of it.
The House Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, who presided over the plenary where the proposal was made public said the proposed states are 30 contrary to the 31 reported.
Kalu threw light on the matter via a statement his Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu issued where he pushed back at suggestion that the Green Chamber is on board with the proposal.
The statement read in part, “We are the people’s parliament. We are not taking any position on the issue of the 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 9th 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 10th 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 10th 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 bills or memoranda, but we do not concede that all of them are good enough to be created.
“There are constitutional procedures in section 8, subsections 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 to to cure the gaps in your application for state creation.
“And if you go to section 8, you will see two-thirds, the majority of the Senate, that of the House of Representatives, the State Houses of Assembly as well as the local government councils. So, let’s follow that procedure and then present these applications again. We are going to the Newspapers to place public announcements so that those who want new States to be created should follow the guidelines as laid down by the constitutional provisions.
“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’s our grundnorm. If it says you have to follow certain procedures in line with the rule of law and observe its supremacy, you have to comply with the provision of the Constitution.
“Those who are desirous of State creation should comply with the procedures laid down in the Constitution and bring it back. There is a window we have created which is one month. It is sufficient enough for people to cure the gaps in their applications and we will reconsider it.”
