Nigeria’s National Assembly has taken a major step toward redressing long-standing regional imbalances, with lawmakers backing the creation of an additional state in the South-East.
The Joint Committee on Constitution Review—comprising members of both the Senate and House of Representatives—reached the decision during a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed more than 50 proposals for new states across the country.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the committee said the resolution was adopted “in the spirit of fairness and equity,” noting that the South-East remains the only geo-political zone with five states. The North-West has seven, while all other zones have six each.
The session was chaired by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and co-chaired by Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, who has been a vocal advocate for balancing the region’s representation.
Kalu argued that the creation of a sixth state would “give the people of the South-East a sense of belonging” and bring the region to parity with others such as the South-South, South-West, North-Central, and North-East.
According to the statement, the motion for the new state was moved by Senator Abdul Ningi of Bauchi Central and seconded by Ibrahim Isiaka, representing Ifo/Ewekoro in Ogun State. “The motion received the unanimous support of committee members and was adopted,” the statement read.
The committee also set up a sub-committee to consider the wider issue of state and local government creation across all six geopolitical zones, revealing that it had received a total of 278 submissions for review.
Deputy Senate President Jibrin urged lawmakers to begin building consensus ahead of the constitutional amendment vote. “We need to strengthen what we have started so that all parts of the country will key into this process,” he said.
“By the time we get to the actual voting, we should already have the buy-in of all stakeholders—from both chambers and the state Houses of Assembly.”
If successful, the move would mark the first alteration to Nigeria’s 36-state structure since the creation of Bayelsa State in 1996 and could signal a new phase in efforts to address regional inequality and deepen federal representation.
