A lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, Osun State, Oluwole Oke, has sponsored a bill seeking the creation of three new states in the South-West. The proposed law titled “A Bill for an Act to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended)” is set to be presented in the House of Representatives. The bill aims to amend the First Schedule, Part I of the Constitution by introducing new states and reducing the number of local government areas. The proposed states include Oke-Ogun, Ijebu, and Ife-Ijesa states.
Oke-Ogun state will comprise 12 local government areas with Iseyin as its proposed capital city. The LGAs include Olorunsogo, Irepo, Oorerelope, Ogbomosho North, Ogbomosho South, Saki-East, Saki-West, Atisbo, Itesiwaju, Iwajowa, Kajola, and Iseyin. Ijebu State will consist of Ijebu East, Ijebu North-East, Ijebu Ode, Ikenne, Odogbolu, Ogun Waterside, Remo North, and Sagamu LGAs. The proposed capital city for Ijebu State is Ijebu Ode. Ife Ijesa State will be made up of eleven LGAs including Atakunmosa East, Atakunmosa West, Boluwaduro, Ife Central, Ife East, Ife North, Ife South, Ilesa East, Ilesa West, Oboku, and Oriade.
In a letter addressed to the Clerk of the House and dated February 6, 2024, Oke forwarded the bill to the office for further necessary legislative action. The South-West geo-political zone currently consists of six federating states including Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Ekiti states. If the bill scales legislative hurdles, the region would surpass the North-West, which currently has seven states, the highest among the other zones of North-Central, North-East, South-West, South-South-South, and South-East.
Section 9 (1) of the Constitution states that the National Assembly can only pass an Act to amend the Constitution when its proposal is supported by two-thirds majority of all the members of each chamber (72 senators and 240 House of Representatives members) and approved by the resolution of at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly (24 states). Currently, the National Assembly is in the process of amending the constitution, and the Constitutional Review Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, is slated for inauguration on February 26, 2023. The amendment is a key component of the 10th Assembly’s Legislative Agenda unveiled by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, in November 2023.