Despite the insolvency of several states of the federation, the House of Representatives Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution has received proposals for the creation of 31 additional states in the country.

Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, who presided over plenary on Thursday, read a letter from the committee containing the proposed states.

If approved, this will increase the number of states in Nigeria to 67. Of the 36 states, less than a quarter are viable and may be able to survive without the intervention and receiving allocation from the federation account. There have been clamours across the land to merge some of the states for their economic growth and development.

States’s creation is highly politicised as the politicians often view it from partisan perspective rather than the patriotic and needs perspectives. Some of the current states created by the military governments also followed similar perspectives. However, they sailed through because of the command system in governance under the military rule.

The letter reads, “This is to inform members that the House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as altered), has received legislative proposals for the creation of states and local governments in the following order:

NORTH-CENTRAL 1. BENUE ALA STATE from the present Benue State.
2. OKUN STATE from the present Kogi State
3. OKURA STATE from the present Kogi State 4. CONFLUENCE STATE from the present Kogi State
5. APA-AGBA STATE from Benue South Senatorial District. APA STATE from the present Benue State.
7. A 37th state, namely FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA

NORTH-EAST
8. AMANA STATE from the present Adamawa State. 9. KATAGUM STATE from the present Bauchi State.
10. SAVANNAH STATE from the present Borno State. 11. MURI STATE from the present Taraba State.

NORTHWEST
12. NEW KADUNA STATE and GURARA STATE from the present Kaduna State.
13. TIGA STATE: Currently, Kano State is present. GHARI STATE from the present Kano State
SOUTH-EAST 16. ETITI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
17. ADADA STATE from the present Enugu State of Nigeria.
18. URASHI STATE as the sixth (6th) state in the South East geopolitical zone.
19. ORLU STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.
20. ABA STATE from the South Eastern Region of Nigeria.

SOUTH-SOUTH
21. OGOJA STATE from the present Cross River State.
22. WARRI STATE from the present Delta State.
23. BORI STATE from the present Rivers State
24. OBOLO STATE from the present Rivers and Akwa Ibom States.

SOUTH-WEST:/strong> 25. TORU-EBE STATE from the present Delta, Edo, and Ondo States.
26. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
27. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State.
28. IJEBU STATE from the present Ogun State.
29. LAGOON STATE from the present Lagos State and Ogun State
30. IBADAN STATE from the present Oyo State.
31. OKE-OGUN and IFE-IJESHA STATES from the Present-day Ogun, Oyo, and Osun states.

No civilian administration had ever succeeded with the creation of any state in Nigeria. States can only be created if the proposal is supported by at least “two-thirds majority of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives (National Assembly) and the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and the Local Government Council in respect of the area is received by the National Assembly.”.

If approved, it would alter the administrative and political structure of Nigeria, which has long been divided into 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Of the 36 states, less than a quarter are viable and may be able to survive without the intervention and receiving allocation from the federation account. There have been clamours across the land to merge some of the states for their economic growth and development.