Enugu State Governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has called for the creation of an additional state in the South-East geopolitical zone to address the regional imbalance in Nigeria's federal structure. The governor made this appeal on Thursday while hosting members of the Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment at the Government House, Enugu.
Speaking ahead of the regional public hearing on constitution amendment scheduled for the weekend at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, Mbah emphasized that the South-East currently suffers an injustice as the only geopolitical zone with just five states while others have six.
"The South East suffers injustice. The fact that across the different geopolitical zones, the South East is the only one with five states. So that is also what we believe will be corrected in this process of amendment," Mbah stated.
Key Constitutional Reforms Proposed
Beyond state creation, Governor Mbah advocated for two other significant constitutional reforms: the establishment of state police and the institutionalization of rotational presidency.
On state policing, the governor described it as "overdue" given the security challenges facing various communities. "We have advocated ardently that there is need for states to create state police services, just as you have the federal police, but with defined jurisdictions and operational parameters," he explained.
Regarding rotational presidency, Mbah emphasized its importance in ensuring that every region, including the South-East, has a fair chance at producing Nigeria's president. "We think that, that obviously would provide South East and every other region a chance at the presidency," he added.
Senate Committee's Response
The Senate delegation was led by Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, who acknowledged the criticisms of the 1999 Constitution, particularly its military origins and failure to represent all segments of Nigerian society.
"We pray that this engagement will afford us the people of South East the opportunity to right some wrongs as a result of the position of the 1999 constitution, which we the people of South East are crying foul that we are being marginalised in so many areas, particularly as it relates to the number of states, juxtaposing same with other geopolitical zones of Nigeria," Nwebonyi stated.
The committee is in Enugu to gather inputs from South-East stakeholders as part of the ongoing constitutional amendment process. Governor Mbah confirmed that his administration would formally present its position during the public hearing.
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