The Senate on Tuesday announced that it had received 57 requests for new states.

“We have 57 requests pending before us for state creation. I know that people should know that they have to negotiate and lobby at least two thirds of the 36 states of the federation to get any section of the 1999 Constitution amended,” Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), said.

The Senate Leader did not mention the names of the new states being requested nor the promoters.

Ndoma-Egba, at a round table discussion organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies in Abuja, said the National Assembly did not have any agenda concerning the move to amend the constitution.

The lawmaker said there were insinuations by individuals and groups alleging that the Senate and the House of Representatives had taken a position on the aspects of the constitution to be amended.

This, he said, was not true, adding that the National Assembly would only abide by the decision of the majority of Nigerians.

“National Assembly has no position on any of the proposals before it on constitutional amendments. We have no agenda; the Senate leadership does not have any agenda,” he said.

The Senator said that the leadership of the National Assembly had realised that it would be difficult to amend the constitution if many issues were listed for amendment.

For example, he said that the mere listing of tenure elongation made Nigerians to reject the plan to amend the constitution during the second tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

He said because of the perceived hidden agenda, other 111 valuable items listed for amendment were jettisoned.

Ndoma-Egba said, “The lesson we have learnt in this is that we don’t have to take so many things into the amendment.

“We have learnt that we can no longer take the cocktail approach and think we will succeed.”

Speaking on the call by the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, for the scrapping of the Senate, Ndoma-Egba said the call might not be to save cost as postulated by the former governor of Lagos State.

He said the total amount allocated to the entire Senate was a mere three per cent of the nation’s total budget, adding that this amount was too little to affect the finances of the country.

He said the N150bn allocated to run the entire Senate “is a fraction to what we pay to an importer whose identity we may not know.”

Beside this, he said there was no way the country could operate only one legislative arm at the federal level “because while the members of the House of Representatives are elected on the basis of population, those in the senate are elected on the basis of equality.”

This process, he said, allowed the minorities in their states to have a representation.

Meanwhile, the Igbo umbrella body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Monday confirmed that it had sent its requests for the creation of more states from the present South-East to the senate.

President-General of the group, Chief Ralph Uwechue, however, said the zone had no specific number of states but demanded for equality and true federalism.

He said, “We are preaching true federalism based on the six zonal structures in Nigeria. Once it is operationalised, the zones can create whatever states or local government areas they wish to create.

“Our position is that power should go to the six regions and the governors-general of the regions would have regional assistants that would decide the number of states that would be created. That is our submission to the National Assembly.”

“Ndigbo specifically have been unfairly treated in this matter.

“The Igbo position is that the inequities and injustices of previous exercises need to be redressed. This should become part of the delineation exercise for the new six regional federal structure,” Uwechue added.

The General Secretary of the Yoruba pan organisation, Afenifere, Chief Seinde Arogbofa, however, said the group did not involve itself in the issue of state creation because it was concerned with the restructuring of the country to reflect a true federal structure.

Arogbofa said, “The problem of Nigeria is not about inadequate number of state but the lopsidednes of its federal structure.

“We believe that we need to restructure the political structure of the country to reflect a true federal state.

“We could talk of state creation for easy administration when the nation is truly restructured and we are practising the real federal system.”

A Kano State member of the House of Representatives, Kawu Sumaila, said in Kano that 10 requests for cration of new states had been received from communities in the North West zone.

Sumaila said, two of the requests were from Kano State.


http://www.punchng.com/news/senate-gets-requests-for-57-new-states/

Abokis will never stop to amaze me, Just becos creation of a new state in the SE is eminent now every village want to become a state in the North, We must go back to Regional system of Government. This is Bull.shit

when are they going to de-list Abia as a state and share her carcass to Imo, Enugu and Rivers?

Sincerely this is bull and every part of it is....WTF? 57? from where?

mcheeeewww wat rubbish more states that wont contribute to the income of the nation only to constitute more burden on the resources of a few economically viable states

I HOPE OKUN STATE IS THERE ?!

Let the Igala people join their Benue and Anambra people..

The government should just solve this problem of state creation by going back to regionalism.

27naira: when are they going to de-list Abia as a state and share her carcass to Imo, Enugu and Rivers?

lwkmbm

creation of more states is not d solution to our problems, rather sincerity from government in d area of spending d allotted resources.

The problem is not state creation: how viable economically are the present states and the new states that may be created. Every month, states go cap in hand 2 the federal government for the monthly allocation. If truth must be told, only the South East need a state in the spirit of justice and equality.

Abegi, make dem create new state, make i make money. No ask me how.

Make una no insult Abia state again even if my governor is sleeping.





Sleep sef get levels.

johndahray: creation of more states is not d solution to our problems, rather sincerity from government in d area of spending d allotted resources.

You are on point my brother. To God be the glory just commented on this forum for the first time.. I need small "chekere" lol

why dont you update us on something i care more about...Like, there is this zit on my back that i have been trying to reach all day?

inside or outside Nigeria

Pls hon. Senator Ndoma Egba help me add one more request to make it 58 in total...
Note my own state shall be called scrupulous state where every citizen will have equall opurtuinities.free from all big thiefs in Naija...dis set of peoples are the likes of senates members,house of rep members,federal arms criminals, corrupt judicialry criminals, All past & presents members, boko haram sponsors in the norths,pDp members, infact all frauters in d civils service sectors both in d state & federals.
I will be glad if my request would be granted thks

You are on point my brother. To God be the glory just commented on this forum for the first time.. I need small "chekere" ℓ☺ℓz na soooo my person

how do I create a topic on Nairaland pls

This is why i don't believe in things like biafra, or nigeria splitting into 'north and south' and '3 regions' or six.
in reality nigeria precolonial 'federating units' number in the hundreds, closer to thousands. We only called ourselves 'south' or 'north' and so forth after colonialism. Most tribes were never single united entities talk-less of regions or states.

27naira: when are they going to de-list Abia as a state and share her carcass to Imo, Enugu and Rivers?

WHEN ABA IS MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN BAUCHI,KWARA,ADAMAWA,JIGAWA,NIGER ETC

Have they even managed the one we have now! Awon Opko nu oshi.

Olorun Oro Nigeria ee Ti Su Mi!

Boa4u: Pls hon. Senator Ndoma Egba help me add one more request to make it 58 in total...
Note my own state shall be called scrupulous state where every citizen will have equall opurtuinities.free from all big thiefs in Naija...dis set of peoples are the likes of senates members,house of rep members,federal arms criminals, corrupt judicialry criminals, All past & presents members, boko haram sponsors in the norths,pDp members, infact all frauters in d civils service sectors both in d state & federals.
I will be glad if my request would be granted thks

[size=14pt]I will be the first state governor and you will be my god/Political father.[/size]

blacksta: inside or outside Nigeria

D states will b created some nautical miles off nigerian sea.

Paper work

k2039:
I will be the first state governor and you will be my god/Political father.

Don't you think if the 57 letters for creation of new states was rather for creation of countries it would have been better? I mean, deep down we know the truth. Nigeria as a country will never achieve its dreams of being one of the world's leading economies. We are wildly diverse, not just in religion, tribe and ethnicity; but in ambitions, believes and aspirations. We are just a bunch of incorrigible hypocrites if not fools sitting on a keg of gunpowder, time is what hampers our caving in. Fight against corruption is already defeated in foresight, providence can only help as far as what we see, the earlier we are divided the better. Posterity will prove me right...

Olutola88: how do I create a topic on Nairaland pls

Hav u ever been banned b4? U cant keep 'clean-sheet' here and be xpktin 2 creat threads dat wil generate heat and ban 4 others.

acidosis™:
I HOPE OKUN STATE IS THERE ?!

Let the Igala people join their Benue and Anambra people..

See pple wey igala help make deputy govnor, na dem want igala out of kogi now. 'Adagba to'okwule, okwu amun'. Let's wait nd see.

These people don dey maaadt I swear!

acidosis™:
I HOPE OKUN STATE IS THERE ?!

Let the Igala people join their Benue and Anambra people..

You said it wrongly ok you would have said let the igala people join the idomas and form a state ok and igalas only have broder with anambra north how will you say igalas to be a state with igbos naahh despite there are few insignificant igala communities in nzam anambra , they are just too few at leats by that time if igalas and idomas join forces the igalas outside igala land will be carried along

APA STATE[/size][size=8pt][i][/i] for live!