The Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution for the Southeast Zone, Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, has declared that if Nigeria is to create any new state, it must come from the Southeast to address what he called a longstanding ?zonal imbalance.?

Speaking on ARISE News on Tuesday, the Senate Deputy Chief Whip outlined the constitutional process for state creation, stressing that the hurdles are high but not insurmountable.

?Section 8, sub 1, A to D of the constitution lays down the procedures to be followed when we want to create more states in the Federal Republic of Nigeria,? Nwaebonyi explained. ?It has to originate through a request backed by two-thirds majority of representatives from the area, including at the Senate, House of Representatives, State House of Assembly, and local government councils. That is the 61 bills my colleague is talking about.?

He added that a referendum must then be conducted, with 66 per cent of the people in the affected area approving the proposal, followed by endorsement from a simple majority of the 36 state Houses of Assembly, and finally two-thirds majority approval in both chambers of the National Assembly before presidential assent.

?Yes, we may have over 60 bills requesting state creation, but if one state additionally should be created in Nigeria, it must be created from the Southeast region of Nigeria to balance this zonal imbalance,? he said.

Addressing disputes over proposed states such as Anioma, which straddles Southeast and South-South identities, the Senator rejected claims that some groups were sidelined in the Senate?s zonal hearings.

?The zonal hearing I chaired accommodated every interest and request, including that of Anioma, even when ideally they?re supposed to come under South-South. We believe the people of Anioma are Igbos?if you look at their history, cultural practices, and language, they are our brothers,? he said. ?We also have requests for Adada State, Aba State, and Anim State. It is wrong to say they were not given opportunity to ventilate their agitations.?

Nwaebonyi also used the platform to call for the removal of local government councils from the federal constitution, arguing they should be entirely under state control.

?It is high time we remove local government as a third tier of government in Nigeria. Let states have the power to create as many as they can fund. The imbalance?Kano with over 50 LGAs while Bayelsa has only eight?will continue to cause agitation. It is difficult, if not impossible, to have autonomous local governments independent of governors? control,? he maintained.

Responding to questions about the economic viability of new states, the Senator argued that prudent leadership could transform any region into a viable entity.

?The problem we have in Nigeria is this type of federalism that we practice?it has made our states very dull and inactive in terms of economic activities because they wait for federal allocations,? he said. ?If more states are created and they are charged to cater for their people, qualified leaders can make something out of nothing. There is no state in Nigeria that doesn?t have one natural resource or the other. In Ebonyi State, we don?t have oil, but we have solid minerals and fertile land. We can do better in agriculture.?

Nwaebonyi rejected the notion that state creation is merely political theatre.

?You cannot say we can?t create another state. If the constitution does not want us to, then Section 8 shouldn?t be there. In as much as it is there, it means there is contemplation that the time will come to increase the number of states in Nigeria from 36 to more,? he said.

Citing examples of effective governance, he dismissed scepticism over leadership quality.

?We still have good leaders in this country. In Enugu, you see what Governor Mbah is doing; in Abia, Governor Alex Otti is transforming both urban and rural areas; in Ebonyi, my governor has awarded over 80 kilometres of roads across all 13 local government areas to connect rural areas to urban centres and markets. We cannot expect angels from heaven to make Nigeria better?you and I can do it,? Onwaebonyi insisted.

The Senator concluded by urging fairness in national representation.

?The Northwest has seven states; others have six. What is the sin of the Southeast? It is over time we look at the people of Southeast and treat them equally with other zones of the federation,? he said. (AriseNews TV)

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