The National Assembly has opened deliberations on sweeping constitutional amendments that could pave the way for the creation of 55 new states and 278 additional local government areas across Nigeria.
The disclosure was made in a statement by Senator Barau Jibrin’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, on Friday in Abuja.
Speaking at the opening of a two-day joint retreat of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in Lagos, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, upheld the legislature’s determination to deliver "people-centred and timely" amendments to the country’s supreme law.
Barau, who also chairs the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, urged lawmakers to work diligently towards transmitting the first set of proposed amendments to the state Houses of Assembly before the end of the year.
"It has been a long journey to bring the Senate and the House of Representatives’ Constitution Amendment proposals that cut across several sections and deal with different subject matters.
"We have been in this process for the past two years, engaging our constituents, critical stakeholders, institutions, civil society organizations and interest groups in town hall meetings, interactive sessions and public hearings, harvesting and synthesizing views and perspectives which has ultimately culminated to what we have here today — 69 bills, 55 state creation requests, two boundary adjustments and 278 local government creation requests," he said.
He acknowledged the enormity of the task before the committees but echoed optimism that progress could be achieved within the two-day retreat.
"It is not going to be a simple task to achieve within two days, but I believe we can do it, especially as we have promised Nigerians that we will deliver the first set of amendments to the State Houses of Assembly before the end of this year," Barau said.
Calling for unity and patriotism, the Deputy Senate President, who also serves as First Deputy Speaker of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament, urged participants to set aside regional or partisan differences.
"We are seated here as one committee. There should be no ‘we’ and ‘them’; we should be guided by the interests of Nigerians. I wish all of us a very fruitful deliberation and hope for recommendations that will meet the approval threshold of the provisions of Section 9 of the Constitution," he said.
Efforts to amend Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution have often been fraught with challenges, largely due to the cumbersome process that requires approval from at least two-thirds of the 36 state assemblies.
Several previous attempts have faltered over issues such as resource control, state creation, devolution of powers, and political disagreements.
The last major review under the Ninth National Assembly achieved partial success, passing key provisions on financial autonomy for state legislatures and the judiciary, but failed to secure consensus on state police and local government autonomy.
Political analysts observe that while the current review signals renewed legislative commitment, the breadth of proposals, particularly those related to new states and local councils, could once again test the federation’s unity and lawmakers’ ability to balance national aspirations with administrative feasibility.
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