The House of Representatives Committee on Constitutional Amendment has rejected the request for the creation of 31 additional states in the country, citing a failure to meet constitutional requirements by the proponents of the states creation.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Hon Benjamin Kalu, who revealed this on Friday during a two-day retreat for members of the Committee in Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, said though the Committee received the proposals for the creation of 31 new states on February 6, none of them met the necessary requirements that could be guaranteed for the creation of new states.
While speaking at the retreat which is held with the aim of providing a platform for reviewing pending amendment bills and strategizing about the next steps in the constitutional review process, Kalu, who doubles as the Deputy Speaker of the House, acknowledged the importance of state creation in Nigeria’s governance discourse.
He, however, noted that while the demands reflected the aspirations of various communities, they fell short of the legal criteria necessary for consideration.
“Therefore, we have since extended the submission date to 5th of March, 2025. But this retreat could in our resolution extend it further if we find out that there are still challenges that the people we represent in their efforts to make their voices heard.
“So at the end of this retreat, it will be one of the things we will look into, whether or not we will extend the time. But let it be a notice that none of the applications followed the conditions laid out by Section 8 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the Deputy Speaker added.
