The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu has said the 30 proposals for the creation of the new states failed constitutional requirements.
To this end, he called on the applicants to comply with the constitutional procedures outlined in Section 8, Subsections 1 to 3 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Kalu in a statement issued Friday by his media office stressed that the Parliament was giving the applicants until March 5 to rectify the gaps in their applications.
He also clarified the parliament has not taken a position on the issue, adding that the proposal for the new states was 30 as against 31 erroneously reported.
Kalu explained that to create a new state, the Constitution requires two-thirds majority vote in the Senate, the House, State Houses of Assembly, and local governments.
He added that Parliament was committed to following the procedure and is inviting the applicants to resubmit their proposals once they’ve complied with the constitutional guidelines.
He said: “We are the people’s parliament. We are not taking any position on the issue of creation of States. We have heard a lot of people giving different narratives to the letter that was read. Let me clear the dust.
“During the Ninth Assembly, we received more requests for State creation and some of them came through private member bills. Some came from the memoranda we called for and in this Tenth Assembly, we have received 30, not 31. I think, on that list, they repeated Ibadan State twice. It is 30 that we have received.
“As we speak, none of these 30 proposals have met the requirements of section 8 and that was why we decided to bring it to the notice of Nigerians that your application before us is ineffective.
“Therefore, you need to comply with section 8 so that when we don’t consider the State creation request, you will know where it emanated from. So, the notice to the public is that you have between now and March 5 to enable you cure the gaps in your application for state creation.”
“And if you go to section 8, you will see two-third, the majority of the Senate, that of the House of Representatives, the State Houses of Assembly as well as the local government councils.”