The Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review has approved the creation of an additional state in Nigeria’s South-East geopolitical zone, in response to long-standing agitations over the region’s perceived marginalisation in the country’s political structure.
The resolution was reached during the committee’s two-day retreat held in Lagos from October 24 to 25, where lawmakers deliberated extensively on various proposals for constitutional amendments.
The committee, chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and co-chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, examined over 55 separate requests for new states across the federation.
Addressing journalists after the session, Senator Osita Izunaso (APC, Imo West) described the decision to approve an additional state for the South-East as “a right step in the right direction.”
“The most important of all the approvals that we have gotten is that we have agreed today to give an additional state to the South-East to balance it six-six states per geo-political zone, regardless of the North-West that has seven states,” Izunaso said.
He added that the committee also set up a sub-committee to work out modalities for the creation of more states where necessary, as part of efforts to ensure equitable representation and administrative efficiency across the country.
“An additional state for the South-East is a major achievement of this final retreat of the National Assembly Constitution Review Committee,” he said.
The move has been widely hailed as a potential milestone in addressing the region’s long-standing calls for inclusion and balance in Nigeria’s federal structure.
