The move by members of the House of Representatives to create 31 states in addition to the existing 36 states has sparked debates and backlash from Nigerians who view it as a misnomer and misplacement of priority by the lawmakers, Weekend Trust reports.
This is as experts have argued that none of the proposed 31 states is economically viable given that the existing 36 states are still struggling to stay afloat from fundings they get from the monthly Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) as well as domestic and international loans.
BudgIT, a civic tech organisation, had said that of the 36 states, only Lagos and Rivers states can take care of their operating costs without relying on revenue from the Federation Account Allocation Committee.
BudgIT disclosed this in its 2024 State of States Report launched in Abuja on October 30, 2024.
The report stated that Ogun, Anambra, Cross River, Kwara, Kaduna and Edo states can generate revenue internally (IGR) sufficient to cover about 50 percent of their operating costs.
This comes as the BudgIT’s report revealed that 34 states depend on FAAC receipts for 62 percent of their recurrent expenditures.
Additionally, the report noted that 32 states in Nigeria rely on FAAC receipts for at least 55 percent of their revenue, while 14 states rely on FAAC for 70 percent revenue.
“Rivers and Lagos were the only two states that generated more than enough internally generated revenue (IGR) to cover their operating expenses, with lGR to operating expense ratios of 121.26 percent and 118.39 percent, respectively,” says BudgIT.
Fresh calls for new states
The fresh proposal for state creation, which emerged from the ongoing constitutional amendment exercise, aims to address demands for greater political representation and decentralisation.
While successive assemblies since 1999 had received proposals for creation of a couple of new states which never scaled through, the current proposal for the creation of 31 new states in the House of Representatives alone, appeared to be unprecedented and the highest ever.
The chairman of the House Committee on Constitution Review and Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Okezie Kalu recently announced that it received proposals for the creation of additional 31 states.
Kalu disclosed this to members while reading a letter from the committee’s clerk during plenary.
According to Kalu, the committee received a proposal for additional 6 new states in the North Central; 4 in the North East; 5 in the North West; 5 in South East; 4 in the South South and 7 in the South West.
The states being proposed include Okun State, Okura State and Confluence State from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa-Agba and Apa states from Benue; FCT State; Amana State from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi State, Savannah State from Borno and Muri State from Taraba.
The proposed states also include New Kaduna State and Gurara State from Kaduna State; Tiga and Ghari from Kano; Kainji from Kebbi State; Etiti and Urashi as the 6th state in the South East; Adada from Enugu as well as Orlu and Aba from the South East.
Others are Ogoja from Cross River; Warri from Delta, Bori and Obolo from Rivers; Toru-ebe from Delta, Edo and Ondo; Ibadan from Oyo; Lagoon from Lagos; Lagoon from Lagos and Ogun; Ijebu from Ogun; Oke Ogun/Ife-Ijesha states from Oyo/Ogun/Osun states.
Requirements for state creation
Section 8(1) of the 1999 Constitution lists a number of steps for creation of states.
The steps include a proposal signed by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new state) in each of (1) the Senate (2) the House of Representatives (3) and the House of Assembly after which the request is passed to the National Assembly.
The proposal is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least a two-thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for the creation of the state originated.
The result of the referendum is approved by a simple majority of all the 36 states of the federation, supported by a simple majority of members of the 36 Houses of Assembly.
The proposal is approved by a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of members of (1) the Senate (2) the House of Representatives.
Meanwhile, findings revealed that a number of the lawmakers proposing for creation of new states have not been able to satisfy a number of the requirements
Economic viability concerns of proposed states
Meanwhile, development and civil society experts have argued that the move for the creation of new states is impractical, economically unsustainable and politically motivated.
They opined that Nigeria is already struggling with economic challenges, including a high debt burden and dwindling revenue.
They said most of the existing 36 states depend heavily on federal allocations, with little internally generated revenue (IGR), adding that adding 31 more states will increase financial pressure on the federal government.
A senior lecturer in the Department of Public Administration at the Bayero University Kano, Dr Saidu Dukawa, while doubting the economic viability of the proposed new states, said the country does not need additional states.
He said state creation will worsen the country’s present situation rather than improving it.
He said, “Nigeria doesn’t need any additional states. As a matter of fact, if we are to be honest with ourselves, we need to abolish the states and just relate with the local governments. Let there be a central government and local governments so that you reduce all these burden of catering for elites. It’s just a matter of politicians having ambitions to become governors, ministers, senators, reps, local government chairmen, and other political appointments. And this is at the cost of the ordinary people for everything they mention, which they categorise as development.
“It is the masses who suffer for it. Every Government House that will be constructed, every city sector that will be constructed, every piece of city road that they will build and overhead bridges, will be at the expense of people’s farmlands or residential areas. They will be given a stipend in the name of compensation and they will be pushed out.
The Executive Director of the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said the proposed creation of 31 new states will strangulate the Nigerian economy.
Zikirullahi said the proposal could have far-reaching implications on distribution of resources in the country.
According to him, the new states may lead to increased administrative cost and further strain the already limited resources of the federal and state governments.
He urged the lawmakers to focus on addressing the urgent economic and social issues facing the nation and be in touch with realities of the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
On his part, the convener of Good Governance Team, Tunde Salman, said from a historical perspective, the creation of states has never been based essentially on the viability of the states economically but rather based on political necessity and expedience.
He said the mentality that economic growth and development can only come through creation of more states must be jettisoned.
“Why are we deceiving ourselves to think that that’s the only game in town? We must find a way of development, economic growth and development, real development that will lead to decent jobs. It is not until everything comes through the state or through the government that people can see meaning in their lives,” he said.
He said society develops where there are autonomous economic centres, where people on their own can work and get reasonable livelihood and decent jobs.
Even if you have 1,000 states, if you still continue with the way we are going, I am not sure you will get anything out of it,” he said.
ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) Country Director, Mr Andrew Mamedu, said rather than creating more states, they should think of merging some states for better productivity.
He said creating more states will increase the cost of governance.
“Now, we are talking about creating new states. We should be focused on even merging the states and getting better results. We should be focused on ensuring that what we have is working,” Mamedu said.
He said that “the rental and feeding bottle” federalism being run in Nigeria is a contributing factor to state creation agitations.
What should be done to reduce agitations
On how to reduce the persistent agitations for creation of more states, Dr Dukawa said the existing states must provide good leadership by ensuring fair and equitable development.
He said, “What we need is qualitative leadership that will deliver good governance. And so long as justice is seen to be done, you will find that nobody will agitate any more. This is a situation both at the micro and macro levels.
“When Murtala Muhammad ruled Nigeria, nobody complained that he was from so and so place. So, it’s not a matter of whether it’s my people who are in position of authority or your people, but what are they doing in positions of authority. That’s what we should fight for. We should improve the quality of leadership.”
The ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) Country Director, Mr Andrew Mamedu, also said addressing the symptoms of problems without tackling the root cause will be counterproductive.
He said it is important to resolve the reason why people are asking for more states.
“We are dealing with symptoms, when the root cause is the issue of inequality. Our solution should be focused on the root cause of inequality and injustice. In some countries, people don’t care who is the president, governor or the senator and all that is because at the end of the day, they are getting what is due to them.”