The ongoing move to create an additional state in the Southeast geopolitical zone faces a new threat.
Newspot reports that National Assembly members from the zone are not on the same page.
In the past, there have been moves to create Etiti State from the five states, Orashi State from Imo and Anambra states, Njaba from the present Imo State, the excision of Aba State from Abia State and Adada State from Enugu State.
It would be recalled that Ikenga Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives from Imo State, introduced a bill to create Orlu State to increase the number of states in the Southeast to six.
Ugochinyere’s bill seeks to carve out the proposed state from Imo, Anambra, and Abia, with the capital of the state in Orlu.
Aside from the state, the new bill will create three additional senatorial districts and some House of Representatives seats.
According to the lawmaker, the proposed state will cover the entire Orlu Senatorial District and extend into Ihiala, Uli, Idiato, Umeze, Umuchu, and others.
If the bill scales constitutional hurdles, the Southeast would have six states, the same as the Northeast, Northcentral, Southwest, and South-south.
However, Peter Uzokwe, who represents Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo federal constituency of Anambra State, has openly opposed the proposal, stating that Ugochinyere carved out his hometown of Ozubulu out of Anambra without consulting him.
Uzokwe, while briefing some selected journalists at his office on Wednesday, said Ugochinyere did the carving to deliberately embarrass him and perhaps subject Ozubulu to the control of Orlu.
“Taking Ozubulu out of Ekwusigo, are you taking Ozubulu out of Ekwusigo? Ozugbo has been the local government headquarters of Ekwusigo. You just came to Ekwusigo and took out Ozubulu.
“Will Ozubulu, which has been the headquarters of Ekwusigo, now be a minority in Orlu?
“Ozubulu has invested so much in Anambra State that we cannot leave it.
“Our investment is in Anambra State, our investment is in Nnewi and in Onitsha, so how do you reconcile that? If he had approached me, consulted with me…
“What my colleague did was to take Imo map and Anambra map and start carving out places as he pleases. He did it just to embarrass me because this is my local government. Could he have done that to Nnewi? He dare not,” he said.
The lawmaker warned that Ugochinyere’s move could instigate wars in the region.
“I would have loved him to carve out Nnewi. State creation is a permanent thing that can bring war, that can bring border issues. Tomorrow you hear that Igbos are killing themselves because they don’t have blood ties.
“Our language with Orlu is different. Our culture is different, and there is no affinity, so how would you reconcile that? We have come a long way to go back to Egypt,” he added.
The lawmaker subsequently placed a condition that unless the capital of the new state is placed in Ozubulu, his people would not back the move.
Newspot spoke with the spokesperson of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Alex Ogbonnia, on the dispute over the carving.
He stated that the apex Igbo group already inaugurated a committee to carefully design the proper carving out of a new state from the Southeast.
According to Ogbonnia, the committee, chaired by Okwesilieze Nwodo, a former governor of Enugu State, will produce the position of the Igbos on the creation.
The spokesperson stated that Ugochinyere’s bill has created protests in some communities in Abia State.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo has set up a committee, in respect of the amendment of the constitution, headed by Okwesilieze Nwodo. The Committee was inaugurated about two days ago, and they are yet to submit a report.
“Not only the lawmaker, some communities in Abia also protested. The issue is that Igbos will come out with their positions, and the person in charge of that is Nwodo of Enugu State.
“Whatever the Igbo position is with respect to the constitutional amendment will come from that committee. Therefore, it will be inappropriate to begin to preempt that committee. Their role is to harmonize the issues and produce a harmonized report,” he said.
Aside from the squabble in the House, Senator Ned Nwoko recently announced a plan to create Anioma State and move it to the Southeast.
Meanwhile, the youth wing of the Igbo body was blunt in its rejection of the proposed Orlu State.
Newspot recalls that the National President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, who addressed journalists on the matter, urged the National Assembly to jettison any plan to create Orlu State.
Okwu, who described it as an invitation to chaos in the South-East, said it negates the spirit of equity and justice.
He said whereas the South-East was desirous of an additional state to be at par with other regions, the proponents of Orlu State were championing a selfish and divisive agenda, which would only worsen the cries of marginalisation in the zone.
The group expressed preference for Etitit State, which it said was all encompassing.
“The proposed Etiti State encompasses parts of all the 5 existing states of the South East.
“They include: Orumba South, Orumba North (Anambra); Awgu, Aninri, Oji River (Enugu); Afikpo North, Afikpo South, Ivo (Ebonyi), Ehime Mbano, Okigwe, Onuimo (Imo), as well as Umunneochi and Isuikwuato (Abia).
“It is, therefore, unthinkable for anyone to wake up one day and plot to thwart the general interest of the South-East in pursuit of a selfish agenda,” he said.
Okwu cautioned that the rejection the said Orlu State had already received was a clear indication that “it is self-serving, lacks inclusivity, and proper consultation.
Hardship in Creating States
No civilian government has been able to create a state since the creation of the Midwest region in 1963.
All the states were created by military fiat by different military dictators.
The constitutional process involves complex steps and a referendum before a state can be created.
Some experts have described the process as almost too complex for state creation.
Kelechukwu Eni-Otu, a legal practitioner, told Newspot that the legislators need to consider the complex ethnic identities in Igbo land before submitting bills for state creation.
He stated that the move to create Anioma State from present-day Delta State to move it to the Southeast to balance the region may not work because of identity crises, as many in Delta may not want to fully identify as Igbo.
“For me, there is the issue of identity crisis. Some people in the South-south region, particularly in Delta State, may not want to be fully ascribed or identified as Igbo.
“Hence, creating a state from that region may require a thorough referendum to make the decision,” Mr. Eni-Otu, a principal partner at the Law Corridor, told Newspot during a phone interview.
He stated that there should instead be a quasi-referendum to identify groups with similarities in culture and aspiration to create a state.
“There would be a need for the legislator to conduct a quasi-referendum to determine those that have concise similarities in culture, attitude, and language for a possible creation along that line. It is quite complex in a constitutional democracy,” he said.
A referendum is one of the conditions in the 1999 constitution for the creation of a state.
Section 8 of the constitution provides that for a state to be created, there should be “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 the 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.”
As it stands; the squabble may threaten the creation of the extra state despite the general consensus on the need for it.
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