The Nigerian Senate has taken a significant step towards potentially altering the country’s political landscape with the introduction of a bill seeking to create a brand-new state, Tiga, carved out from the existing state of Kano.
News About Nigeria reports that Senator Kawu Sumaila, representing Kano south, is the driving force behind this legislative proposal, which had its first reading on Thursday.
The proposed legislation aims to amend the constitution to pave the way for the creation of Tiga as a distinct state.
Kano, one of Nigeria’s most populous states, comprising 44 local government areas, would need to be reconfigured to accommodate the new state.
However, the details of how these LGAs would be redistributed under the new arrangement remain unclear.
This is not the first time that a senator is proposing a new state.
This development marks another instance of a senator advocating for the creation of a new state, following in the footsteps of Senator Ned Nwoko, who in June proposed a constitutional bill to establish “Anioma” as a new state in the south-east.
The south-east geopolitical zone currently has five states, and Senator Nwoko argued that the creation of a new state would address the longstanding imbalance in the geopolitical distribution of states in Nigeria.
According to Senator Nwoko, the South East geopolitical zone has only five states, unlike its counterparts, except for the North West, which has seven states.
This disparity results in an imbalance of representation and resources, with the South East having only 15 lawmakers compared to the 18 lawmakers of other zones in the senate.
