Criteria For State Creation Listed

Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu on Thursday said that while the National Assembly was ready to undertake the creation of more states in the ongoing constitution amendment, certain criteria must be met.

Ekweremadu stated this when he received a delegation of people from Oyo, agitating for the creation of “New Oyo State”.

He listed the criteria to include viability of the new state, adequate population, justice and fairness to prevent a situation whereby a group from within the newly created state would begin to agitate for another state.

Ekweremadu further said that the name of the state should have cultural, social and linguistic meaning.

He said that demands for state creation was genuine, adding that the National Assembly would not shy away from its responsibility.

“From our interactions with stakeholders, it is clear that Nigerians want more states to be created. The National Assembly is looking into the demands,” he said.

Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Prof. Tunde Malik, had said that the New Oyo State when created, would comprise 19 local governments.

He said that the new state was viable with a population of six million people, adding that the main stay of the people was agriculture.