Ben Ezechime, Enugu
Governor Peter Mbah has said he was in favour of creation of an additional state in the South-East to place it at par with the other six geopolitical zones.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by members of the Senate Committee on Constitution Amendment at Government House, Enugu, Mbah also advocated for rotational presidency and state police, saying this would give every part of the country a sense of belonging and secure the nation better.
The committee was in Enugu ahead of the regional public hearing on constitution amendment slated for the International Conference Centre (ICC), Enugu at the weekend
“One that excites us most is the idea of state policing.
“We have advocated ardently that there is need for states to create state police services, just as you have the the federal police, but with defined jurisdictions and operational parametres.
“We think that this is overdue and there could not be better time for that given the fragilities we have in our various communities.
“The state police will be a truly welcome development in our Constitution.
“The South-East suffers injustice. The fact that across the different geopolitical zones, the South-East is the only one with five states. So that is also what we believe will be corrected in this process of amendment,” he said.
According to him, the idea of rotational presidency was also very important.
He said: “We think that, that obviously would provide South-East and every other region a chance at the presidency.
“So, these are areas we believe are commendable and we will be presenting our position formally in the hearing tomorrow and the subsequent days.”
On his part, the Senate Deputy Chief Whip and leader of the delegation, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, said the committee was in Enugu to get the inputs of the people of the South’East zone in the constitution amendment process.
“It goes without saying that the 1999 constitution has received a lot of criticism from Nigerians, including that it is the product of military dictatorship and, as such, does not represent the interest of all the segments that make up Nigeria.
“As a result of these criticisms. There is a need to alter the constitution from time to time.
“We pray that this engagement will afford us the people of South-East the opportunity to right some wrongs as a result of the position of the 1999 constitution, which we the people of South-East are crying foul that we are being marginalised in so many areas, particularly as it relates to the number of states, juxtaposing same with other geopolitical zones of Nigeria,” Nwebonyi stated.
