A distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Scholar, Prof. Mike Ozekhome SAN, succinctly put it thus: “The process of creating new States or making boundary adjustment under the 1999 Constitution is, to say the least, herculean, labyrinthine and near impossible. It is no wonder therefore that not a single state has been added to the existing 36 states and FCT since 1999, notwithstanding numerous demands to that effect by many Nigerians across the country.” 

The Constitutional Requirements and Procedural Steps for State Creation: The Section 8 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) captures the elaborate requirements and procedural steps for successful creation of a new State and Boundary Adjustment of any existing State in Nigeria, as well as creation of new Local Government from existing State. As creation of new State does not necessarily require formal boundary adjustment and creation of local government in a separate exercise, which deals with an existing State, the focus is to unveil what it takes to create a new State under the extant Constitution.

The Section 8(1) specifically deals with creation of a new State. It provides thus: 
“An Act of the National Assembly for the purposes of creating a new State shall only be passed if- A request, supported by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new State) in each of the following, namely The Senate and the House of Representatives, The House of Assembly in respect of the area, and The local government councils in respect of the area, is received by the National Assembly;
 
‘“A proposal for the creation of the state is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for creation of the State originated;

“The result of the referendum is then approved by a simple majority of all the States of the Federation supported by a simple majority of members of the House of Assembly; and 
 
“The proposal is approved by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of member of each House of the National Assembly.”

As creation of new state basically entails alteration of the Constitution, the special provisions of Section 9(3)(4) dealing with altering of the Constitution, relating to the Section 8 applies, and should also be complied with. The S.9 (3) states: “An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of altering the provisions of this section, section 8, or Chapter IV of this Constitution shall not be passed by either House of the National Assembly unless the proposal is approved by the votes of not less than four-fifths majority of all the members of each House, and also approved by a resolution of the House of Assembly of not less than two-thirds of all the States.”

The S.9(4) states: “For the purpose of section 8 of this Constitution and of subsection(2) and (3) of this section, the number of the members of each House of the National Assembly shall, notwithstanding any vacancy, be deemed to be the number of members specified in sections 48 and 49 of this Constitution.”

The referenced Sections 48 and 49, dealing with composition of the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively, state as follows: S.48: “The Senate shall consist of three senators from each State and one from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja”, and S.49: “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the House of Representatives shall consist of three hundred and sixty members representing constituencies of nearly equal population as far as possible, provided that no constituency shall fall within more than one state.” 

Also, as the number and particulars of the existing 36 States in Nigeria are already constitutionally enumerated with their constituent local governments in the Section 3 of the Constitution, any addition would entail alteration of the Section 3 of the Constitution. In essence, any Bill for creation of a new State is made pursuant to the S.3 of the Constitution, to enable proper integration of the new State when created.

Upon such proposed new State Creation Bill for the proposed new State succeeding to be passed going through the requisite legislative processes, and the Referendum held successfully, the Bill would become an Act, after being transmitted to the Presidency and Assented to by the  President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is at this stage, that the new State is birthed and accorded all rights, privileges and appurtenances of office and governance in Nigeria.  
Strategising the advocacy for creation of Adada State
Actualising the Adada State creation project requires systematic approach; strategising on the needed advocacies to overcome the rearing obstacles. There is no better group to showcase the imperative and choice of creation of Adada State than the group of media gurus of Nsukka extraction, operating under the auspices of Nsukka Journalists Forum (NJF). It is therefore, commendable step forward by the NJF, to have inaugurated this Public Lecture, aimed at garnering broader discourse and informed legal perspective, towards realising the lingering quest for Adada State. 

The necessary advocacies should therefore, focus on collaboration and synergy to leverage on the goodwill of National Assembly members from various parts of Nigeria, irrespective of party lines and political affiliations.  

Having shown how tedious and the rigorous nature of the procedural steps of the constitutional requirements for creation of new State in Nigeria under the democratic dispensation (in terms of support volume and spread), it is important that the project for creation of additional State for the South East geo-political zone is not sacrificed on cross-fire of media war and squabbles among key agitators from different quarters. Such approach would be counter-productive, and over-heat the polity. 

It requires intense persuasion and targeted mobilisation of support, even from other agitators from the existing SE States, to see reason why they should collectively support the Adada State creation project, to serve the needed additional new State for the SE.

It is not time to name and shame opposition of the idea of conceding the slot to Adada State. Rather, all efforts should be geared towards understanding the intricacies and emotive intrigues inherent in the constitutional requirements, underpinning the struggle, and carry all shades of opinion along, while focusing on the action points for success.  

Conclusion
There is no gain saying that there is urgent need to create additional one (1) State for the SE, even if just for political balancing among other zones that constituted the historic regions of the pre-Amalgamated Nigeria, and the proposed Adada State has become the idea which time has come, and should be massively supported.

With such balancing, any political structure or restructuring to be adopted in Nigeria would not further create more imbalances for the SE. 

The fact that State creation exercise has not been undertaken successfully during democratic era, given the rigorous constitutional requirements aimed at discouraging frivolous agitations, does not make it impossible even when there is urgently genuine need for the exercise. After all, imperative of law-making exercise lies on mutual understanding, cooperation and collaboration by requisite stakeholders. A typical celebrated instance, is the successful alteration of the Constitution vide the 3rd Alteration Act 2010 effective March 4, 2011, where, still in the democratic era, a single Court Team led by the former President of the National Industrial Court, His Lordship Hon. Justice Babatunde Adejumo OFR(rtd), pushed for Amendment of the Constitution and secured the elevation of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to join its peers as a Superior Court of Record listed in the Constitution in S.254C of the Constitution (as Amended).

Interestingly, under the current democratic dispensation, a good number of Constitutional Alterations have already taken place, signalling that the nay- Sayers may not get it right again on the assumptive issue of  State Creation Jinx in democratic era. In all, the new Adada State is eagerly awaited!  

Ogbuanya, a judge of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria presented this at the 2024 convention, public lecture and award ceremony of the Nsukka Journalist Forum (NJF), held in Nsukka, recently.