26th July, 2011
Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has advised the National Assembly not to include six-year single tenure and states creation as part of the agenda for the proposed constitution amendment.
Receiving participants of the 2011 Senior Executive Course 33 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic studies (NIPSS) in his office on Monday, Fashola said that state creation and six-year single tenure were not priorities of the country at this critical time.
The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that single tenure of six years and creation of states are part of National Assembly‘s agenda in the proposed constitution amendment.
The governor said calls for states creation were unnecessary because not all the existing 36 states of the federation were viable.
“I hear that there is going to be a constitutional amendment to create more states, when in fact some of the existing 36 states are not viable. I do not think we need to create states now,†Fashola said.
Fashola said the proposed amendment should accommodate issues that would impact directly on the lives of the people and promote the development and prosperity of the country.
The governor urged members of the National Assembly to amend the constitution to deregulate critical sectors to Nigeria‘s development, such as the power sector.
Fashola also said rather than reviewing the constitution to create more states, the lawmakers should create and empower more local governments to bring development closer to the people.