The National Conference on Thursday voted for the creation
of 18 more states in the country.
The creation of new states was one of the decisions taken by
the delegates at their plenary while considering the report of
the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of
Government.
Apart from the 18 new states proposed, the conference said a
separate state-yet-to-be named should be carved out of the
South-East to bring the number of the states in the zone to
six.
In creating a new state from the South-East geopolitical zone,
the conference said the creation would correct the imbalance
of the zone having the least number of states.
In the existing 36 states arrangement, each zone has six
states with only the North-West having seven states.
The new states proposed by the conference are: Aba, to be
carved out of the present Abia State; Katagum, from Bauchi
State; Ijebu, from Ogun State; Amana, from former Sardauna
Province; Apa, from Benue State; Anioma, from Delta State,
Savannah, from Borno State; and Etiti, from South-East.
Others are Njaba/Anim, from Anambra and Imo states;
Gurara, from Kaduna State; Ghari, from Kano State; Adada,
New Oyo from Oyo State; Orachi, from Rivers State; Ogoja,
from Cross River State; and Kainji, from Kebbi and Niger
states.
Two other states, one each from the South-East and South-
West zones, are also yet to be named.
It was agreed by the delegates that the 18 new states would
be shared among the six zones in a manner that no zone
would have more states than the other.
Though it was also agreed that states were free to have their
constitutions, the request to change the name of Adamawa
State to Gongola State was overwhelmingly rejected by the
delegates.
The delegates also voted that the Presidency should rotate
among the six geopolitical zones of the country.
They said the rotation should be between the northern and
southern regions.
It was also agreed by the delegates that in the case of death,
impeachment or incapacitation of the President, the deputy
would no longer assume office automatically.
Rather, they said that the Vice President should only act as
President for a period of 90 days within which another
election should hold.
“In the absence of the death of the President, the Vice
President shall act as President for a period of 90 days within
which an election to the office of the President shall be held,”
the conference said.
The delegates argued that since the office of the President
would be rotated among the six geopolitical zones, it would be
unfair to allow the Vice President to take the turn of another
zone by automatically assuming power.
President Goodluck Jonathan, a southerner from Bayelsa
State, had assumed the Presidency in 2010 following the
death of former President Umaru Yar’Adua, a northerner from
Katsina State.
The delegates rejected the proposal that the President should
be in office for a single term of six years, and favoured the
present arrangement of two terms of four years each.
It was also agreed that the President and his deputy should
run on a joint ticket, thereby rejecting the recommendation
that the President should pick his deputy among members of
the National Assembly after he must have won.
The conference also supported the bicameral legislature. This
implies that there would still be the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
It was also agreed that the office of the governor should
rotate among the three senatorial districts in the state while
the office of the chairman of a local government council
should rotate among the components in the local government
areas.
The conference also recommended that that the Independent
National Electoral Commission should divide each council to
two or three equal parts as the case maybe for the purpose of
electing the local government chairman.
The delegates rejected a motion that the number of states in
Nigeria should not be more than 55.
However, a delegate, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, condemned the
decision to create more states.
He said the action was at variance with the decisions and
resolutions earlier taken by the conference on the need by
government to cut cost.
“Having regard to the several resolutions of the National
Conference on the need to reduce the cost of governance, I
found the recommendation for the creation of additional 18
states rather contradictory,” Falana said.
The conference also said that a referendum should be
conducted in each of the states that want to merge with 65
per cent of the eligible voters in each of those states
approving merger and that the National Assembly, by
resolutions passed by a single majority of membership,
should approve such merger.
On the running of local governments, the delegates said that
states were free to create or reduce the number of local
governments within their territory.
It was agreed that all government officials must use made in
Nigeria cars.
The conference also agreed that the old national anthem,
“Nigeria we hail thee…” should be adopted in place of the
current one.
Probably to show their preference for the old anthem, all the
delegates rose to sing it to the surprise of the leadership of
the conference. Source-www.360nobs.com/2014/07/national-conference-confab-endorses-creation-of-ijebu-aba-17-other-states-supports-rotation-of-presidency-among-zones

All these decisions na wa o

Most of our leaders seem not to have prioritised vision for this nation.

Creation of more state is not what Nigerians need to overcome the poverty level and insecurity.

This their Confab is a waste of resources

All these to disrupt state creation for SE?
OK o