Justice Nelson Ogbuanya of the National Industrial Court, Owerri Division, has revealed that among the four proposed states for creation in Nigeria’s Southeast region, Adada stands out as the most desirable and legally formidable.
He described it as a state with strong cultural homogeneity and the oldest unresolved state creation request in Nigeria.
Justice Ogbuanya made this assertion during a Guest Lecture titled “Navigating The Constitutional Conundrum for Creation of Adada State: Interrogating the Prospects, Demystifying the Challenges, and Strategizing the Advocacies.” The lecture was delivered at the 2024 Nsukka Journalists Forum (NJF) Convention, Public Lecture, and Award Ceremony held in Nsukka, Enugu State, on Wednesday.
According to Justice Ogbuanya, the agitation for Adada State dates back to 1983 when Hon. Yunusa Kaltungo, a federal lawmaker from Bauchi State, first proposed it in the National Assembly, citing Nigeria’s imbalance in state creation, particularly in the Southeast.
This was followed the same year by Senator Isaiah Ani, who represented the Nsukka Senatorial zone in the Second Republic.
He further explained that the request was submitted to the Mbanefo Panel on State and Local Government Creation and Boundary Adjustment in 1996 and gained traction following the 2014 Constitutional Conference, which recommended the creation of an additional state in the Southeast.
“The creation of Adada State was also unanimously endorsed during the 2005 National Political Reform Conference held under former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration,” Ogbuanya added. He pointed out that Nsukka, the proposed state capital, is Nigeria’s largest and oldest local government, dating back to the colonial era. It remains the only district of its size and history that has yet to become a state capital. The area designated for Adada is also the only former province east of the Niger that has not achieved statehood.
Currently, the National Assembly is considering the proposal under the ‘Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Alteration) Bill, 2024 (SB. 482)’. The bill seeks to amend Section 3(1) and the First Schedule, Part 1 of the Constitution to facilitate the creation of Adada State, bringing the number of Southeast states to six. This would enable the Southeast to be on par with other geopolitical zones in the country.
Justice Ogbuanya emphasized that Adada State has a stronger case than its competitors due to the need to correct imbalances within the Southeast. He explained that the current five Southeast states are unevenly distributed between the Northern Igbo (Ndi Wawa) — comprising Enugu and Ebonyi States — and the Southern Igbo (Ndi Agbenu), which includes Abia, Anambra, and Imo States. With the Southern Igbo holding three of the five states, an additional state should be allocated to the Northern Igbo, where Adada belongs.
He urged the public not to be discouraged by the challenging process of amending the constitution for state creation. As an example, he cited the successful elevation of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to the status of a Superior Court of Record under Section 254C of the Constitution (as amended), demonstrating that constitutional amendments are achievable in a democratic system.
