Expectations by agitators for new states creation across the country seemed to have hit the rock as the Deputy Senate President and Chairman, Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, disclosed that constitutional procedures for the exercise were not followed by the agitators.

Ekweremadu (PDP, Enugu West), who made the disclosure to the Senate press corps yesterday at the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja, said many of the agitators for new states creation thought coming to Abuja to submit memoranda for such proposal was the most important thing needed for its actualization, without providing other constitutional procedures laid down for that purpose.

He said, “People think they will come to Abuja and submit memoranda and the National Assembly will deliberate on it and then subsequently announce that so and so states have been created. Unfortunately that is not the case.”

The Deputy Senate President explained that, “What happens is that you have to receive request pursuant to section 8(1) of the constitution. That section 8(1), I will like all of you to go and read it because it is going to be a major debate by the time we start debate on amendment of the constitution.

“When we received request, that request must as a matter of constitutional requirement have the signatures of the two-third of the local government councils of the affected area requesting for the state. So, that include the councillors and the chairmen of the councils from the area requesting for the state. And you must know these must be elected councillors and chairmen because the constitution does not envisage caretaker (committees). If it is found out that they are not elected chairmen, that means that they have not fulfilled that obligation.
“Furthermore, there must be signatures of the two-third of members of the state assemblies from those respective areas requesting for a state. Then, there will be two-third signatures of the National Assembly.

“What has happened now is that, our traditional rulers, out of the love for their people, they quickly signed the requests for creation of state and come and submit in Abuja without looking at what the constitution says. They are not the one who should be signatories, it has to be parliamentarians.

“My own understanding of the constitution is that, it is not just going to be parliamentarians but serving parliamentarians; that is, sitting members, not those who were members in 1960. That is one of the details people have avoided in making these requests. So, this is one of the constraints.”

He said, although the National Assembly supports the call for states creation, but “you have to follow the procedure laid down by the constitution, which most people are trying to avoid. That is our stand on it. I will like you to help us explain to the public, because it is an issue that will be very controversial.”

The Deputy Senate President, however, stressed that all the amendments proposed by the committee are subject to the approval of the entire Senate, which they, as committee members, would abide with.

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