South East Needs Two New States – Politician

A veteran politician from Enugu State, Chief Maximus Ukuta, has condemned calls for an additional state for the South East geo-political zone, saying one was not enough.

Ukuta told newsmen in Enugu that one state for the zone was not enough to bring equity to the scheme of things in the country.

He said that while the zone should get a minimum of two states, others with six states should also get additional one each to level up at seven states per zone.

“No zone should have advantage over another. The South East has suffered a lot. I don’t know if you can quantify the loss to the South East, in terms of local government, the issue of five states, you cannot quantify the loss.

“I am opposed to the South East demanding one state. What we should demand for is that there should be equality of states among the geo-political zones.

“For the issue of local governments, there should be criteria. The military created the local governments and it depended on who you knew. They did not follow the criteria recommended by the committee,’’ he said.

Ukuta, who was the commissioner for local government in the old Anambra State, said he supported a role for traditional rulers in the constitution.

He said the National Assembly should create a role for the traditional rulers because they were a force to reckon with in the country.