Constitutional review: One state for East ‘ll address cries of injustice – Rep Onuigbo

By Christiana Ekpa

As the House of Representatives Special Committee for the Review of the Constitution tours the Country on its facts gathering mission, Rep Sam Onuigbo has proposed that only the creation of additional State, with complimentary local government areas (LGAs) will address the allegations of injustice and marginalisation South-East geo-political zone has severally alleged to be its lot in contemporary Nigeria’s political arrangement.
Rep Onuigbo, who represents Ikwuano-Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency, declared this position at the South East Zonal Public Hearing of the Committee which held in Owerri, Imo State recently.
“For there to be a semblance of fairness, justice and equity, the constitutional review process must result in the creation of at least an additional State in the South East, as the South East is the only region with less than six states”, he stated.
Onuigbo maintained that from the creation of an additional state would come the creation of additional Local Government Areas in the South East and consequently more opportunities for the region to produce more House of Representatives members and Senators which will enable the region have more impact in decision making at the federal level, while also attracting additional resources to the region.
The lawmaker, while responding to question on whether the Constitutional Review (an exercise carried out by successive National Assemblies), would not end up an exercise in futility, referred to the inclusion of the Doctrine of Necessity into the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which came about as a result of such exercise following the legal lacuna discovered when former President Umar Musa Yar’adua travelled without officially handing over to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Onuigbo stressed that the review is not a waste of time and resources and further pledged to champion the requests of his constituents which have been brought to his attention by the Constitutional Review Committee of the House of Representatives.