1 week ago
30
ABUJA – Mohamed Ndarani, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has protested the exclusion of Eduko state from the list of proposed 31 new states.
Ndarani insisted that the exclusion is a clear sign of continued marginalisation of the Nupe people in Nigeria.
The legal luminary posited that the proposal by the House of Representatives Constitution Review Committee’s does not reflect the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Ahmed Tinubu of fairness, equity and justice.
He stated that the creation of Eduko State will serve the interests of the long-marginalised Nupe people.
Addressing newsmen in his law chambers on Monday, Ndarani, said he was yet to come to terms as to why the agitation for the creation of Eduko state from the present Niger state with its vast landmass and natural resources, was ignored.
“Niger State’s geographical mass is unquestionably more than that of the entire Southeast and equal to that of the Southwest. It is vast and has a variety of solid minerals.
“The proposed Eduko state is a prospective oil-producing state, and would be a viable and developed state with a capital in Bida’’, Ndarani stated.
The SAN argued that Niger remained the only state from which a new state has not been carved out, adding that Eduko state would comprise various groups from the present Niger, Kogi, and Kwara states.
Ndarani noted that despite the 2014 Confab’s recommendation for the creation of Edu state, now proposed as Eduko state, even though it met the constitutional requirements as enshrined in Section 8(1)(2)(3), which is the legal framework guiding state creation in Nigeria, the committee overseeing state creation excluded Eduko from the final list.
“It is unfortunate that Eduko State was excluded. The Confab deemed it fit, yet it has vanished from consideration. This raises serious questions. Why was it removed? It is evident that this is an act of marginalization against the Nupe people”.
“When we saw the recommended list, it was disheartening. If the Confab approved it, why did the committee remove it? This is unjust,” Ndarani said.
Meanwhile, the senior lawyer has appealed to President Bola Tinubu, to intervene on the matter so as to ensure the creation of Eduko state.
He noted that Niger state spans 76,000 square kilometer, with a required population, mineral deposit and a river basin that can sustain an Eduko as a State, with a capital in Bida.
Therefore, Ndarani has called for an extension of the consultation period to allow other marginalized groups to participate in the state creation process.
“It should be noted that any attempt by the National Assembly to exclude a genuine proposal like Eduko state will be challenged in the court of law” Ndarani said.
More so, Ndarani, appealed to the National Assembly members of Nupe extraction from Kwara, Niger, and Kogi states, and the FCT, to support the agitation for the creation of Eduko state.
Failure to actualize the creation of Eduko state will be construed by their constituents as a colossal failure.
English (US) ·