State creation impossible at the moment, says senate spokesman

Yemi Adaramodu, spokesman of the 10th senate, says the red chamber cannot recommend the creation of any state at the moment.

Adaramodu spoke with journalists in Ilawe Ekiti, his country home, during the weekend.

He said the senate has so far received about 61 proposals for state creation from the six geopolitical zones.

The lawmaker explained that the senate has no constitutional power to unilaterally create states, describing the process as one that requires “auditing demographic, geographic and historical data”.

“The stance of the senate has always been unique, constitutional and legislative,” he said.

“First, the senate cannot unilaterally create states; such requests must be considered during a constitutional review process.

“In such cases, Nigerians and other critical stakeholders will express their interests, which often range from local government autonomy to state creation and even the creation of more local governments.

“There is also the validation of new Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) created by various state governments, such as Lagos state and my own state in Ekiti.”

Adaramodu said the demands for state creation were formally submitted during interactions with constituents across the country.

He added that all requests will be collated and reviewed by the constitutional review committee headed by Jibrin Barau, deputy senate president.

According to him, the committee will aggregate, assess and filter the proposals before preparing a report for the senate.

“Once that report is ready, the senate, in conjunction with the house of representatives, will hold a comprehensive public hearing,” he said.

“This hearing will allow all stakeholders, those who submitted requests and those opposed to them, to present their arguments. After then, the two chambers will now sit together in concurrence to pick which request is genuine.

“State creation is a serious matter that requires auditing demographic, geographic and historical data. In some cases, even elements within the requesting states do not fully support the proposals.

“All these factors must be considered. Until then, the national assembly, not just the senate, cannot recommend any state for creation.

“As it stands, no state has been recommended or suggested for creation. We are not yet certain of the final reports, results or aggregated public views, which will only emerge after the upcoming public hearing when we resume.”