A bill for the creation of Adada State, which was sponsored by Senator Okey Ezea [LP, Enugu North] on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, has passed the first reading on the floor of the Nigerian Senate.
Ecstatic crowds gathered in several parts of Nsukka as the news broke Tuesday morning. Adada dominated conversations on several social media platforms, as people from the proposed state hailed Senator Ezea for sponsoring the bill.
The bill, which has been cited as the “Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Alteration) Bill, 2024 (SB. 482)”, seeks to amend Section 3(1) and the First Schedule, Part 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide for the creation of Adada State to bring the number of South-East states to six (6); that would enable the South-East to be at par with the other geopolitical zones of the country.
The agitation for the creation of Adada state dates to 1983 when the senator representing Nsukka senatorial zone in the Second Republic, Engr. Isaiah Ani, presented a bill. Expectations were high after the 2014 Constitutional Conference had recommended that an additional state be created in the South-East.
Although there have been proposals for the creation of other states out of the geopolitical zone over the years, none has been as acceptable and as qualified as Adada. It is the only old province east of the Niger created during the colonial era that has yet to become a state.
Adada will be composed of seven LGAs or about 58% of the current population of Enugu State. The LGAs are Nsukka, Igbo-Eze South, Igbo-Eze North, Udenu, Igbo-Etiti, Uzo-Uwani and Isi-Uzo. Nsukka is the proposed state capital.
— ANIEBO NWAMU
