How to Create New Local and State Governments in Nigeria
Nigeria is currently composed of 36 states, 774 local government areas Y Abuja as a federal capital territory. However, agitations for the creation of more local and state governments remain vociferous. All state and local governments, as they are today, were created by previous military regimes. No civil administration has created one in the history of Nigeria.
The creation of a local or state government in Nigeria under the current provision is entirely constitutional. So the question is how can new state and local governments be created under the constitution of Nigeria? What I have decided to do in this article is to simplify the established processes contained in section 8 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of 1999 from Nigeria (modified) for the creation of local and state governments in Nigeria so that you, as a Nigerian or a lover of the country, can be better informed.
The Procedure for the Creation of the Local Government
To create a local government in Nigeria, the work begins with a state House of Assembly and takes the following forms:
1. a bill for the creation of a new local government will be proposed
2. the bill must become law, but can only be passed if:
Yo. the House of Assembly receives a request for the creation of a new local government supported by a minimum of 2/3 of the members of the House of Assembly who are representatives of the area demanding a new local government, and
ii. 2/3 of the local councils in the area demand a new local government
iii. then 2/3 of the people in the area who ask for the creation of a new local government have to approve the proposal for the creation of a local government in a referendum
IV. thereafter, the result of the referendum must be approved by a simple majority of the members of each local government council in a majority of all local government councils in the state where a local government is to be created
v. the result of the referendum must also be approved by a resolution passed by a 2/3 majority of the members of the House of Assembly.
Once the conditions listed above are met, the House of Assembly will pass the bill. But there are two more hurdles the House of Assembly must climb to conclusively create a local government and here are the two stages:
1. The House has to pass a bill to adjust the boundaries of any existing local government, but the bill can only become law if:
has. the House receives a request for boundary adjustment that is supported by a 2/3 majority of the members of the area affected by the boundary adjustment from each of the following
I. the House of Assembly, and
ii. the local government council of the area
b. then a proposal for the adjustment of limits is approved by a simple majority of the members of the Chamber in the affected area.
2. The House has to report to each house of the National Assembly so that the latter can amend the constitution to include the new local government or local governments thus created.
The Procedure for the Creation of the State
When it comes to the creation of a new state, the National Assembly composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives has to pass a Law, but it can only be passed when
1. the National Assembly receives a request supported by at least 2/3 of the majority of the members representing the area demanding the creation of a new state in each of the following:
Yo. the Senate and the House of Representatives
ii. the House of Assembly in that area, and
iii. local councils in the area
2. then a proposal for the creation of a state must be approved in a referendum by at least 2/3 of the majority of the people in the area who demand a new state
3. the result of the referendum shall also be approved by a simple majority of all Nigerian states supported by a simple majority of the members of the House of Assembly, and
4. The proposal will now have to be approved by a resolution approved by a 2/3 majority of the members of each house of the National Assembly.
Having taken the 4 steps listed above, the National Assembly has two more steps to complete its task regarding the creation of the state.
The next two steps are these:
1.a The National Assembly has to pass an Act to adjust the boundaries of the existing state(s) from which a new state has been forged and this is only possible if the National Assembly receives a boundary adjustment request supported by 2 /3 majority of members of the area demanding the adjustment of limits in each of the following:
Yo. the Senate and the House of Representatives
ii. the House of Assembly
iii. local government councils
1.b, then a proposal for limit adjustment must be approved by:
I. the simple majority of the members of each chamber of the National Assembly, and
ii. a simple majority of the members of the House of Assembly with respect to the affected area
2. Then the National Assembly has to pass an Act to amend the constitution in order to incorporate new state or local governments into the document.
You will agree that the processes are cumbersome and this explains why neither local nor state government has been created under a constitutional government in Nigeria. However cumbersome they may be, the processes are not unattainable when there is political will and the government responds to the wishes of its people.