By George Ozalla
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, alongside key senators, governors, and political stakeholders from the South East, is set to meet with proponents of a new state in the region as part of ongoing consultations on state creation.
According to a press statement signed by Levinus Nwabughiogu, Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, the meeting is scheduled for November 14, 2025, in one of the South East state capitals and will bring together a wide array of stakeholders, including members of the National Assembly, governors, ministers, speakers and deputy speakers of state Houses of Assembly, and heads of federal agencies from the region.
The statement noted that the forum will offer proponents of the new state an opportunity to present their case, while regional leaders harmonize positions ahead of parliamentary deliberation.
According to Kalu, the move aligns with the resolve of South East lawmakers to speak with one voice in the renewed push for equity in state distribution across Nigeria’s geopolitical zones. He said the meeting follows a series of earlier engagements, including one at the House of Representatives where members agreed to expand consultations to the Senate and other critical stakeholders.
The latest development follows a resolution reached at a high-level meeting between the Deputy Speaker and the South East Caucus of the Senate, chaired by Senator Osita Isunaso, where lawmakers from the region agreed to pursue a collective stance on the matter before submitting their proposal to the National Assembly for debate and voting.
It will be recalled that during a recent retreat in Lagos, the Joint Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives on Constitution Review, co-chaired by Deputy Senate President Senator Jibrin Barau and Kalu, approved the creation of an additional state in the South East to bring the zone at par with other regions of the country.
The renewed push for state creation in the South East has continued to gain momentum as stakeholders intensify consultations aimed at correcting what they describe as a long-standing structural imbalance in Nigeria’s federal system.
