Yesterday, the House of Representatives approved a bill aimed at amending the 1999 Constitution to establish Etiti State in the South East region of Nigeria.
The proposed state would be formed by carving out portions of the existing Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states.
Once established, the newly created state will consist of 11 local council areas, which will be selected from the five existing states. The state’s administrative center will be located in Lokpanta.
During the plenary session, the bill, sponsored by Amobi Godwin Ogah, who represents the Isikwuato/Umunneochi Federal Constituency, along with four other lawmakers, passed through its first reading. The session was chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.
The bill was co-sponsored by several other lawmakers, including Princess Miriam Odinaka Onuoha, who represents the Okigwe and Onuimo Federal Constituencies; Kama Nkemkama, representing the Ivo/Ohozara Federal Constituencies; Princess Chinwe Nnabuife, representing the Orumba South and North Federal Constituencies; and Anayo Onwuegbu, who represents the Oji River, Agwai, and Aniri Federal Constituencies.
The bill aims to make changes to three sections of the 1999 Constitution. Specifically, it seeks to replace the number “36” with “37” to accommodate the addition of the new state.
The proposed legislation suggests inserting the word “Etiti” right after “Enugu” in the list of states in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the bill aims to modify the arrangement of local governments based on their respective states and transfer the 11 local council areas from their current states to the newly created state.
The local councils that would be affected include Isuikwuato and Umu-Nneochi (Abia), Orumba North and Orumba South (Anambra), Ivo and Ohozara (Ebonyi), Aninri, Agwu, and Oji River (Enugu), as well as Okigwe and Onuimo (Imo).
A bill has been introduced in the lower chamber to create Orlu state in the region, and it has passed the first reading.
There is also a proposal in the lower chamber to establish three additional states in the South West region: OkeOgun, Ijebu, and IfeIjesa.
One of the bills, sponsored by Oluwole Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency in Osun State, suggests amending the Constitution to include OkeOgun state.
The proposed capital city for OkeOgun state would be Iseyin, and it would consist of 12 local councils.
