A former member of the House of Representatives and Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Ekiti State, Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, has opposed the proposal for the creation of more states, describing it as a ruinous action that will create chaos and economic woes.
Rather than acceding to such a request, Faparusi, a former commissioner, backed a structural devolution of powers that will fortify the already existing states, local governments, and regional commissions, signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to drive regionalism.
Faparusi was thrilled by the creation of regional development commissions and the granting of financial autonomy to the 774 local governments by President Tinubu, branding this as a game-changer that will bring gradual and seamless devolution of power to states and possibly the regions.
A bill seeking the creation of more states, at least two per geopolitical zone, is currently pending before the House of Representatives.
In a statement issued through his media office at the weekend, the former federal parliamentarian opposed the creation of more states, saying such an arrangement would cannibalise the governance structure further.
Faparusi stated that adopting such a strategy under an economic situation, whereby only a few states could operate frictionlessly without federal allocation, would further create more economic crises like poverty, unemployment, and the inability of states to provide expected social services and infrastructure.
He warned Nigerians against paying lip service to the concerning issue of restructuring governance in the country, saying the steps being taken by the current APC-led federal government should be fully supported, rather than being sabotaged, to make government more cohesive to operate.
According to him, “With the trend of things in Nigeria, what we need now is regional integration, which the Development Commission Bills signed into law by President Bola Tinubu can easily propel, because most of the states are struggling. Without the federal allocation, how many of them can survive?
“We should use the template of regional development commissions to develop a regional governance structure that will allow for the devolution of powers from the central government to the regions.
“Everyone has been calling for restructuring, and this is the time for it. The National Assembly should jettison the idea of creating more states because it will simply weaken the existing states further, polarise the country more and increase the cost of governance.”
Speaking further, the APC chieftain averred that with more states in existence, the government will be burdened financially through the election of more governors, National Assembly members, and appointments of more citizens that will increase the cost of governance.
“Creating more states at a time when people are calling for a reduction in the cost of governance will be implausible. With more states, you will have more governors, National Assembly members, state assembly members, ministers, commissioners, and more special advisers.
“I think it’s completely a bad idea that will create jobs for only politicians and make the citizens poorer.
“We fashion our own democracy after the United States of America. One state in America, like Texas, is the size of Nigeria, aside from the issue of population. So, the idea of state creation is a misplaced priority. Instead, we should create regional government that will allow for regional integration, which will accelerate our development,” Faparusi said.
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