Ohaneze restates call for creation of new state in South-East

Ohanaeze Ndigbo

The Igbo sociocultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has again called for the creation of an additional state in the South-East geopolitical zone for the purpose of national equity.
The Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze, Mr. Tony Oganah, in an interview with PUNCH, said that the group had been in support of all applications for a new state in South-East, insisting that the National Assembly should create at least a new state.
He said, “Nobody can say we are asking for too much because we are demanding for the creation of one or two more states in the South-East. North-East, North-Central, South-West and South-South, all have six states each. North-West has seven. Why should South-East have only five?

“This is a question of equality. It’s a psychological thing. We, in the South-East, need to have the sense of equality with people in other geopolitical zones. There is an Igbo saying that states that ‘if you treat me like you treat my mates, I will be happy’. So, let the National Assembly consider the fact that all Nigerians deserve equal opportunity, irrespective of their ethnic group or geopolitical zone.”

According to him, South-East had one state less than most of the zones, a situation he noted means it was being short-changed in the sharing of allocation fund from the federation accounts, as well as appointment of officials at the federal level based on Federal Character Principle.
“We want to be treated like other zones, so that we get federal allocation for equal number of states like other zones. This will help to further develop the South-East and ensure that we get a more equitable share of the national cake,” he said.
Oganah however noted that the group was not in support of any particular new state being proposed from the South-East.
The Deputy Senate President, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution, Ike Ekweremadu, last week during a meeting said the creation of new states was tedious “but not impossible.”
Speaking when he received the Enugu State Government’s Committee on the Actualisation of Adada State, Ekweremadu who informed the Senate that none of the 61 requests for new states met constitutional requirements.
He referred proponents to sections 8 and 9 of the Constitution, which lists what must be met before a new state could be created.