Nigeria’s renewed push to create six additional states has triggered sharp reactions among South East leaders, who insist the proposal fails to correct long-standing structural imbalance in the federation. Their concerns follow a recommendation by the National Assembly’s joint committee, which endorsed one new state per geopolitical zone after reviewing 55 state-creation requests.
The proposal—arriving after a two-day retreat led by Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu—would raise Nigeria’s states from 36 to 42. But stakeholders argue that the formula still leaves the South East trailing behind regions that already enjoy numerical advantage.
Under the recommendation, the South East would move from five to six states, while one region would rise to eight and others to seven. Leaders from the region say this approach does not reflect fairness, especially as the call for state creation was originally driven by complaints of marginalisation from the South East.
Elder statesman Dr. Chike Obidigbo criticised what he described as political manipulations surrounding the process, warning that external forces were attempting to sow division among Igbo communities over where the new state should emerge. He urged Ohanaeze Ndigbo to convene a broad meeting to harmonise competing demands such as Adada, Etiti, and Anioma.
Obidigbo argued that while historical agitation for Adada remains strong, an Etiti State may offer a more cohesive option by bringing together homogenous communities from the existing five states. He also cautioned that efforts to attach Anioma to the South East may face resistance, especially as a referendum would require support from the Delta State Assembly.
In separate remarks, Dr. Chuka Nnabuife of Anambra State’s Civic and Social Reformation Office said the National Assembly was right to consider expanding states, noting that previous creation exercises improved development. However, he stressed that fairness must guide the process, insisting that giving all other regions new states while offering the South East only one would entrench, rather than correct, existing inequality.
Nnabuife called for two new states in the South East—or a pause on new states for regions already numbering seven—arguing that true equity requires a balanced federation. The debate is expected to intensify as the National Assembly prepares to transmit its recommendations for further legislative action.
