The Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Constitution Review has received 50 memoranda from various stakeholders.
One of them was from the Middle Belt Congress, MBC, which proposed 12 provinces for the country.
MBC’s position was contained in an unsigned copy of a memorandum it submitted to the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, which our correspondent sighted in Abuja.
About 49 other groups and individuals have also submitted memoranda to the committee.
The Deputy Senate President Omo-Agege-led Senate Committee on Constitution Review had given Nigerians and other stakeholders two weeks to submit their memoranda to the panel.
The who have submitted papers to the committee include former Information Minister, Prince Tony Momoh; a businessman, economist, writer, and 2019 presidential candidate of Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party, ANRP, Tope Fasua; as well as the Coalition of Federalists for Good Governance in Nigeria, CFGG, among others.
Tuesday, September 9, 2020, was the deadline for the submission of memoranda, according to the committee.
The MBC said: “There shall be 12 federating units in Nigeria, to be called Provinces, comprising the states written against their names.
“North-West Province shall comprise Sokoto, Kebbi, and the Zamfara States; North-Central Province shall comprise Kaduna and Katsina States.
“North-North Province shall comprise Kano, Jigawa and Ghari States; North-East Province shall comprise Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Amana, Savannah, and Katagum states.
“Middle-Belt West Province shall comprise Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Edu, and Kainji States; Middle-Belt East Province shall comprise Plateau, Benue, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Taraba, Gurara and Apa States.
“Western Province shall comprise Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Ose, Okun, and New Oyo states; South-West Province shall comprise Lagos, Ogun, and Ijebu states.
“Mid-West Province shall comprise Delta, Edo, and Anioma states; Niger Delta Province shall comprise Rivers, Bayelsa and Oil River states.
“South-East Province shall comprise Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, Aba, Adada, Njaba, and Etiti states; South-South Province shall comprise Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Ogoja states.”
The group also recommended that additional 19 states be created, to bring the number of states in the country to 56 with the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
But only 18 of the states suggested by the MBC were reflected in its memorandum.
Also, about 183 women organisations have urged the Senate to extend the deadline for the submission of memoranda on Constitution review to between 30 and 60 days.
Among them are: Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, WARDC, founded by Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi; Women in Politics Forum; National Association of Women Journalists, NAWOJ, and Women Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria.
Others are: Gender and Constitutional Reform Network; Women Aid Collective and Women’s Rights Advocates Policy Advisory.
The women organisations stated their position in a letter to Senate Deputy President and Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Ovie Omo-Agege, titled: Appeal for An Extension on the Deadline of the Call for Memoranda.
The letter by the Founding Director of WARDC, Dr. Akiyode-Afolabi; Chair of GCRF/ED of WACOL, Prof. Joy Ezeilo, and ED of WRAPA, Hajiya Saudatu, reads: “We, the undersigned organisations, humbly appeal for an extension of the deadline of the ‘Call for Memoranda’. We request that it be extended to between 30 to 60 days from the date of the publication of the memo.
Source: The Nation
