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Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, stated that none of the 30 proposals for new states met the criteria outlined in Section 8 of the Constitution.

In a statement released Friday by his media office, Kalu clarified that Parliament has not yet taken a stance on the matter.

He further explained that the Constitution mandates a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate, the House of Representatives, state houses of assembly, and local governments for the creation of a new state.

Kalu emphasized that the National Assembly remains committed to following the constitutional process and is urging applicants to resubmit their proposals once they align with the constitutional requirements.

He said: “We are the people’s parliament. We are not taking any position on the issue of creation of states. We have heard a lot of people giving different narratives to the letter that was read.

“Let me clear the dust.

“During the Ninth Assembly, we received more requests for state creation and some of them came through private member bills. Some came from the memoranda we called for and in this Tenth Assembly, we have received 30, not 31.

“I think, on that list, they repeated Ibadan State twice. It is 30 that we have received.

“As we speak, none of these 30 proposals have met the requirements of Section 8 and that was why we decided to bring it to the notice of Nigerians that your application before us is ineffective.

“Therefore, you need to comply with Section 8 so that when we don’t consider the state creation request, you will know where it emanated from.

“So, the notice to the public is that you have between now and March 5 to enable you cure the gaps in your application for state creation.”

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