Bauchi South senator, Shehu Buba Umar, has refuted reports that the Senate has approved the creation of 12 new states.
He described the claims as false and baseless.
Speaking with journalists in Bauchi at the weekend, Buba explained that the Senate has not made any decision on new states or local government areas.
He said what the Senate has done is to organize public hearings in different parts of the country to gather suggestions from citizens as part of the review of the 1999 Constitution.
These suggestions include requests for creating new states and local governments.
However, the committees handling these hearings have not yet submitted any final report to the National Assembly, he stressed.
Buba made it clear that no report has been presented to the Senate, and the lawmakers have not met to discuss or approve the creation of any new state or local government.
The senator advised Nigerians to ignore the viral news, which falsely claimed that 12 new states had been approved.
According to him, before the hearings even began, the Senate received more than 46 different requests for state creation, including a proposal to create Katagum State from Bauchi.
He stated that the fact that Katagum was not included in the reported list caused confusion and concern among residents of the area.
Senator Buba stressed that the report is completely false.
DAILY POST reports that the false report claimed that the Senate had approved new states in each of the six geopolitical zones as follows:
From Ogun and Oyo: Ijebu and Ibadan
From Anambra, Imo and Enugu: Anim and Adada
From Ondo, Edo, Delta, and Akwa Ibom: Toru-Ibe and Obolo
From Borno and Adamawa: Savanna and Amana
From Kano and Kaduna: Tiga and Gurara
From Kogi and Benue: Okura and Apa
Buba and another senator from Bauchi, Abdul Ningi, have both denied the report, saying no new states have been approved by the Senate.
Speaking further, Buba repeated his earlier call for the creation of more local government areas in Bauchi South.
He said places like Toro, Alkaleri and Bauchi LGAs are too large in both population and land size.
According to him, Toro alone is almost the size of a whole state in the South.
He explained that specific proposals have already been submitted. In Toro LGA, proposals were made for Lame and Jama’a LGAs. In Bauchi LGA, there were requests for Galambi, Birshi, Zungur, and Bauchi Munsifa LGAs. In Alkaleri, proposals were submitted for Gwana and Yankari LGAs. For Tafawa Balewa, there were requests for Lere North, Lere South, and Bula LGAs.
He also said that many new federal wards were recommended in a technical report, which was led by former Minister of Justice, Hon. Ibrahim Umar.
The senator acknowledged that changing the constitution and creating new states or local governments is not easy. It involves the National Assembly, state Houses of Assembly, the judiciary, and the President.
He stated that more local governments are needed to bring government closer to the people, due to the Nigeria’s population which is now over 250 million, and especially in the North.
