July 15, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s 36 states are currently sagging under the weight of such unbearable financial and social economic burdens that carrying out their constitutional mandate to provide for the welfare and security of their citizens is not just a challenge but an everyday nightmare.
Indeed, the viability of many states in the country recently became an issue when many openly confessed their inability to pay the proposed minimum wage of N62,000, declaring that many of them will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes, thus stalling further negotiation of the new minimum wage.
There is more. Annual State Viability Index reports have shown that only 10 states in the country are viable while 17 are poor as their Internally Generated Revenues, IGR, remain below 10 per cent of their receipts from the Federation Account Allocations (FAA) year-in-year out. Currently, Taxes and MDA revenue remain the only means of generating revenue in the states.
The viable states, according the National Bureau of Statistics in its 2023 report, are the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, the nation’s capital which generates up to N172.89 bn IGR; Lagos State remains steadfast in its number one position in IGR with a total revenue generation of N651.15 bn compared and Rivers with N124.4bn.
Others are Ogun State, which generated IGR of N120.6bn; Edo with IGR of N47bn; Kano generated N42bn; Oyo with N62.2bn; Ondo with IGR of N24bn; Kaduna with IGR of N58bn; Delta State earned N58bn IGR. Other states fall between N10bn and N11bn in revenue generation.
It therefore beggars belief that the call for state creation will rear its head in the midst of severe economic downturn hardship and grinding poverty in the country. Currently, the proposed states on the table of the senate are Tiga State from Kano State, sponsored by Senator Kawu Abdurrahman and Etiti from Abia state, co-sponsored by Amobi Ogah (Abia), Miriam Onuoha (Imo), Kama Nkemkama Ebonyi, Chinwe Nnabuife, Anambra and Anayo Onwuegbu Enugu, both of which have scaled the first reading.
The lawmakers are proposing to alter the 1999 Constitution to create Etiti state from Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo.
Others are a bill, sponsored by Delta North Senator Ned Nwoko, for the creation of Anioma State in the South-East, to bring the zone at par with other geo-political zones, which have six states.
There were also bills for the creation of Orlu State, sponsored by Senator Osita Izunaso and a member of the House of Representatives, Ikenga Ugochineyere.
Some lawmakers are also reportedly seeking the creation of additional states from Lagos and other states across the country.
Coming on the heels of the amendment of the constitution scheduled for completion in December 2025, these demands will certainly be tried and tested by the mentioned social and economic challenges of the time.
Even so, it is our candid opinion that the ways and means of strengthening existing states to enable them discharge their constitutional mandate and enthrone good governance should remain the main focus of the legislature until such a time that their sustainability can serve as a model for further action.
At any rate, it would be quite an experience to see how the proposed bills will surmount the requirements for state creation and boundary adjustments as provided for in provisions in a constitutional amendment process.
For instance, Section 8 of the Constitution provides: An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new State shall only be passed if-
(a) a request, supported by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new State) in each of the following, namely –
(i) the Senate and the House of Representatives,
(ii) the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and
(iii) the local government councils in respect of the area, is received by the National Assembly;
(b) a proposal for the creation of the State is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for creation of the State originated;
(c) the result of the referendum is then approved by a simple majority of all the States of the Federation supported by a simple majority of members of the Houses of Assembly; and
(d) the proposal is approved by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of members of each House of the National Assembly.
