President, South West Center ‘A’ of the Review Committee of the House of Representatives of the 1999 Constitution, Rt. Excmo Isiaka Ibrahim Ayokunle, on Saturday, said that the committee is complete The nation.
Ayokunle, who is also the deputy waper of the 360-members parliament, gave this guarantee at the public hearing of the Committee, which took place in Ilo, as the governor of the state of Lagos, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Oolu; The speakers of the Lake, Ogun and Oyo of the Assembly, the groups of women and young people, the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC), the traditional rulers, among others, appeared for various needs, including state creation, the State Police, the Special State for the State of Lagos, the inclusion of the 37 LCDA in the construction of the Federal Republic of 1999 of Nigeria, among others.
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Some of the proposed states are new states of Oyo with the city of Oyo proposed as its capital, Ibadan state with Ibadan proposed as its capital, Sagamu headquarters with headquarters in Sagamu, Ijebu state with headquarters in Ijebu -ode, among others.
According to him, the objective of the Committee is to ensure that the review reflects the various aspirations of the people, defending justice and equity, emphasizing that the committee was resolved to ensure that the revision process was transparent and all interested parties remained informed of the review in each step.
This was just when he secured even more than all the memoranda and suggestions aimed at the committee would consolidate carefully and they were given the attention they deserved at the level of the National Assembly.
Speaking in the event, Governor Sanwo-Polu reformulated the need for a special status for the state of Lagos, stating that such request was very late, postulating that such request had become imperative due to the strategic position of the State, especially as the former Federal Capital of the Nation and the charges it has.
Sanwo-olu, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hazmat, also reiterated the call to the State Police, saying that state surveillance was not semantics but about protecting people.
This was just when he pointed out that the government every time the capital of the nation moves from one State to another, does not leave such a state to carry the load that remains, but compensates for the State with a special status, urging the federal government to be fair with the people of Lagos by granting a special state as ancient Federal Capital of Nigeria.
“Any state that was once the Federal Capital of the Nation cannot inherit the assets and liabilities throughout the country, and then be forgotten by the responsibilities that those assets entails. As a nation, let’s be fair to the people of Lagos by granting the State a special status,” said the governor.
Speaking beyond, Governor Sanwo-olu emphasized the need for the National Assembly to guarantee the list of the 37 development areas of the Local Council (LCDA) in the Constitution of the Nation, and added that these LCDA, since the creation in 2003, had managed to bring the government of the people and accelerate the basic development in the State and, therefore, to be listed and recognized in the Constitution of the nation.
The governor, pointing out that the public hearing was not only another chapter in the constitutional history of the country, but a special and invaluable opportunity for the people of Lagos and the entire region of the southwest to have a direct and significant word by shaping the highest law of the nation, urged the need to be guided by the inclusiveness, equity and justice upon the arrival of a document that is adapted to the work, Principles of principles.
“As we embark on this critical process of reviewing our Constitution, we must guide ourselves with the principles of inclusion, equity and justice. We must listen to all, men and women, young and old, of all the corners of our communities. Their hopes, concerns and dreams should shape the amendments that leave this process,” he said.
The governor praised the Committee of Representatives of the Chamber for his dedication to a process of transparent and inclusive review, accusing all interested parties and citizens to participate when studying their views with clarity of purpose.
However, he reaffirmed that his government was completely committed to the principles of democracy, good governance and the rule of law, adding: “We will continue to support all the initiatives aimed at strengthening our constitutional framework and deepening the roots of our democracy.”
In their messages of good will, the speakers of the houses of assemblies of the State of Lagos, Ogun and Oyo provided their support for the return of the power of the center, the State Police, the list of development areas of the Local Council (LCDA) in the Constitution of the Nation, as well as the recognition of the traditional rules by the Constitution.
In addition, the speakers also gave their support to the river roads to be transferred to the state government, among other issues that were peculiar of the region.
On state creation, a member of the House of Representatives, HE. Abass Agboworin Adigun, Chief Niyi Akintola (San) and Nurudeen Akinade, in his separate memorandum presented to the Review Committee of the House of Representatives of the Constitution of 1999, demanded the creation of the state of Ibadan.
Agboworin Adigun, who is also a member of the committee, moved to the creation of the state of Ibadan with Ibadan proposed as the capital, if the president is finally the bill.
The federal legislator in the bill, who titled: “A Law to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (amended) to provide the creation of the state of Ibadan with Ibadan as the proposed capital city and for related matters, 2025”, and sponsored by it, proposed that the new State should understand 32 areas of the local government.
He listed local governments to include: Ibadan North Lga, Ibadan North East Lga, Ibadan North West Lga, Ibadan South East Lga, Akorede Lga, Ibarapa East Lga, Ibarapa North Lga, Ido LGA, Ona-Ara Lga, Apte LGA, among others.
He declared promptly that the new State, if created, had enough resources, both human resources and capital, to stand and compete with other prosperous states in the country.
Chief Akintola, while demanding the creation of the state of Ibadan, said that each of the communities that make up the proposed state was larger than many cities and towns in the country.
He explained that the number of local government areas in the current state of Oyo was too small to properly care for people’s interests, emphasizing that some states with a greater number of local government areas were much smaller compared to Ibadan.
For his part, Akinade argued that the creation of the state of Ibadan was very late, saying that the population of the people in Ibadan, which put 4.2 million, tripled that of other states, even when he pointed out that Ibadan only has a terrestrial mass of 28,000 square kilometers.
Also speaking, Hon. Wale AWE, while moving for the creation of the rowing state of the current state of Ogun, said the demand was necessary to ensure that the interest of ReMo people was properly represented, and added that the proposed state had enormous resources to take care of it.
Funmilola Okunowo also led other leaders of Ijebu to demand the immediate creation of the Ijebu state at the public audience.