By Kolawole Ojebisi
The House of Representatives committee on constitutional amendment has explained the reason for the extension of the deadline for the resubmission of proposals for the creation of new states.
The Green Chamber had initially chosen March 5 as the deadline for the resubmission of proposals to address creation of new states but changed the date barely fourty-eight hours to the target date.
However, in a statement issued on Monday Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who doubles as chairman of the committee of constitution review said the extension is in response to the “public requests for additional time”.
“The House of Representatives Committee on the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), wishes to inform the general public, particularly proponents of the creation of additional states in Nigeria, that the deadline for re-submission of legislative proposals that previously did not meet the specified constitutional criteria has been extended on public demand,” the statement reads.
Kalu said all re-submissions must “strictly comply” with the provisions of section 8 of the 1999 constitution, which outlines the criteria for state creation.
He said three hard copies of all proposals and memoranda should be submitted to the secretariat of the committee while soft copies must be sent to info@hccr.gov.ng.
“The committee remains committed to supporting legitimate efforts that align with constitutional provisions and will only consider proposals that comply with the stipulated guidelines,” Kalu said.
On February 6, Kalu said the house received proposals for the creation of 31 new states.
But on February 21, the committee rejected all 31 proposals, citing failure to meet constitutional requirements.
