The Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Yemi Adaramodu (APC, Ekiti South), has disclosed that the Senate received 61 proposals seeking the creation of additional states across the six geo-political zones in the country.
He spoke to newsmen at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti, describing state creation as a complex process which requires careful auditing of demographics, geographical and historical data, followed by comprehensive public hearings for scrutiny.
Daily Trust reports that the 10th National Assembly has embarked on the review of the 1999 Constitution with creation of additional states dominating debate during the recent public hearings in the North and the South.
Senator Adaramodu recalled that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had confirmed 42 proposals for state creation in July, but noted that the number has now increased by 19, bringing the total to 61.
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The lawmaker said the Senate cannot recommend the creation of any state until all relevant factors have been thoroughly assessed.
"All of these requests will still be reviewed and examined. We will collate them, after which the Constitution Review Committee, headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, will aggregate, assess, and filter them before preparing a report to the Senate.
"Once that report is ready, the Senate, in conjunction with the House of Representatives, will hold a comprehensive public hearing. This hearing will allow all stakeholders -- both those who submitted requests and those opposed to them -- to present their arguments. After that, the two chambers will sit together in concurrence to determine which requests are genuine," he said.
On budget implementation, the lawmaker said the 2024 budget cycle is still ongoing to ensure that projects, particularly capital projects, were not abandoned.
"Without an extension, any unfinished project would lose funding once the fiscal year ends, forcing it to wait for another year for inclusion in a new budget," Adaramodu said.
