[size=18pt]No more states creation Senate[/size]

Published on 19 November 2010


COSMAS EKPUNOBI (ASSIST. POL. EDITOR)



South east and other geo-political zones agitating for additional states may have to wait for a longer time before they would have their dreams realized, as the Senate yesterday said state creation was no longer on its agenda.

Senate has, however, said that it would be guided by provisions of sections 8 and 9 any time it settles for state creation. Over 34 groups have applied to the National Assembly for new states.

Senate also hit back at opponents of its proposed Electoral Act amendment bill, insisting that the proposed law which seeks to make over 70 per cent of the federal lawmakers members of the national executive committees (NEC) of their parties was not self serving.
Spokesman of the Senate, Ayogu Eze at a news briefing yesterday said the bill if passed into law would further deepen internal democracy in the political parties.

Meanwhile, Senate has declared that it did not at any time compile list of states to be created even as it said that state creation was not part of the agenda of the constitution review committee. He said that the Senate would be more concerned with electoral matters.

Senator Eze spoke against the backdrop of allegation that a certain number of states has been penciled down for creation by the National Assembly.
I want to state categorically that there is no list of state creation that has been drawn by the National Assembly.

That matter is not being considered right now, but we hope that we will consider it in the life of the sixth National Assembly. But if there is any list circulating somewhere, drawn by the Senate or the House of Representatives or the National Assembly as a joint body, there is no such list.

What we are doing at the moment is that we are receiving requests and collating such requests. There is no such list or whatsoever at this point to eliminate any request or include any because we have not started the consideration of any request. The entire request that has been made to the National Assembly is with our relevant committees; that is the ad hoc committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

These committees are husbanding these facts and keeping them for the opportune time when we start the considerations. Of course you know that based on section 9 of the Constitution and other sections there are provisions that must be met before states are created.

We are going to assess the entire request before us before states are created. The issue is not before the National Assembly right now simply because we want to finish with the issue dealing with the elections.


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