Ijebu State Proposed In a New Bill, About To Be Tabled Before the House of Reps

A bill seeking the creation of Ijebu state out of Ogun state is one of the three states being proposed in the southwest, in a bill about to be presented before the House of Representatives.

Two other states proposed in the bill are Ife/Ijesha state in Osun state, and Oke Ogun state in Oyo state.

The sponsor of the bill which is about to be presented to the house, is Honorable Oluwole Oke, representing the Obokun/Onade Federal Constituency of Osun state.

According to the provision of the bill, the capital of the proposed Ijebu state will be Ijebu Ode, Ile-Ife for the proposed Ife/Ijesha state, and Iseyin for the proposed Oke Ogun state.

The current Remo North, Sagamu, Ogun Waterside, Ikenne, Odogbolu, Ijebu Ode, Ijebu East, Ijebu North East, and Ijebu East are to be in the proposed Ijebu state.

The proposed Ijebu state was among the new states proposed in the 2014 National Conference report yet to be implemented.

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In a letter dated February 6, 2024, and addressed to the Clerk of the House, Oke wrote:  I wish to forward the abovementioned bill to your office for further necessary legislative action to enable me to move same in our great Green Chamber, sir.

The South-West geo-political zone is currently made up of six federating states, which are Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Ekiti states.

If Oke’s bill scales legislative hurdles, the region would surpass the North-West, which currently has seven states, the highest among the other zones of North-Central, North-East, South-West, South-South-South, and South-East.

Section 9 (1) of the Constitution states that the National Assembly can only pass an Act to amend the Constitution when its proposal is supported by two-thirds majority of all the members of each chamber (72 senators and 240 House of Representatives members) and approved by the resolution of at least two-thirds of the state Houses of Assembly (24 states).

Currently, the National Assembly is in the process of amending the constitution. A key component of the 10th Assembly’s Legislative Agenda unveiled by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, in November 2023 is a constitutional amendment.

The Constitutional Review Committee, chaired by Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, is slated for inauguration on February 26, 2023.