What is the Meaning of section 8 subsection one of Nigeria 1999 constitution. In this article I will like to explain the Meaning of section 8 (1) of 1999 constitution
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Meaning of section 8 (1) of 1999 constitution
The section 8 subsection 1 of Nigeria 1999 constitution new state and boundary adjustment stated that
SubSection 1 stated that
(1) An Act of the National Assembly for the purpose of creating a new State shall only be passed if- a request, supported by at least two-thirds majority of members (representing the area demanding the creation of the new State) in each of the following, namely –
(i) the Senate and the House of Representatives,
(ii) the House of Assembly in respect of the area, and
(iii) the local government councils in respect of the area, is received by the National Assembly;
This section means
To create a new state, the National Assembly (federal legislature) must receive a request supported by:
At least two-thirds majority of members in the Senate and House of Representatives (federal lawmakers)
At least two-thirds majority of members in the State House of Assembly (state lawmakers) representing the area seeking to become a new state
At least two-thirds majority of members in the local government councils (local lawmakers) representing the area seeking to become a new state
To create a new state, there must be a strong consensus among lawmakers at all levels (federal, state, and local) representing the area seeking statehood
This consensus is demonstrated by a two-thirds majority support in each of the three groups mentioned above
This clause is stating that, for the National Assembly (the federal legislature) to pass an Act to create a new state:
1) There must be a request for the creation of the new state that is supported by:
a) At least two-thirds (2/3) majority of the members in both the Senate and the House of Representatives (the two chambers of the National Assembly)
b) The House of Assembly (state legislature) for the area where the new state is proposed to be created
c) The local government councils in the area where the new state is proposed to be created
In other words, there needs to be very broad and substantial support – from the national legislature, the state legislature, and the local governments – before the National Assembly can pass a law to create a new state
The intent behind this provision seems to be:
To ensure there is widespread, multi-level consensus on the need for a new state before proceeding with its creation
To prevent the arbitrary or unilateral creation of new states without buy-in from the relevant political stakeholders
To make the process of creating new states more rigorous and participatory, involving input from national, state, and local representatives
To distribute the decision-making power across different tiers of government, rather than concentrating it at just the national level
National Assembly can’t just decide to create a new state on its own
There needs to be a strong push from the area that wants to become a new state
This push needs to be supported by a supermajority (more than two-thirds) of the elected officials representing that area in several government bodies:
The Senate and House of Representatives: These are the federal legislative bodies There needs to be strong support from both houses of Congress for the new state
The House of Assembly: This is the legislative body of the current state the area wants to leave Even within the current state, there needs to be strong local support for the creation of a new state
Local government councils: These are the governing bodies at the most local level Widespread backing from local governments in the area is also required
Basically, everyone who represents the people in the area wanting to become a new state needs to be overwhelmingly in favor for it to even be considered by the National Assembly
1 Request and Support: A formal request to create a new state must be made
2 Majority Support: This request must be supported by a two-thirds majority in each of the following groups:
The Senate (the upper house of the National Assembly)
The House of Representatives (the lower house of the National Assembly)
The House of Assembly for the area where the new state is proposed
The local government councils in the area seeking statehood
SubSection 2b
a proposal for the creation of the State is thereafter approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the people of the area where the demand for creation of the State originated;
1 Proposal
A proposal is made to create a new State
2: Referendum
A referendum (a public vote) is held to decide whether the new State should be created
3: Voting Area
The referendum is only held in the specific area where the demand for the new State originated
4: Majority Requirement
To pass, the proposal must receive votes from at least two-thirds (2/3) of the people in that area
Example:
Let’s say 100 people vote in the referendum For the proposal to pass, at least 67 people (2/3 of 100) must vote “yes” to create the new State
In short:A new State can be created if a proposal is approved by a public vote, but only if at least 2/3 of the people in the affected area vote “yes”
This part of the provision states that, even after the request for creating a new state has the support of two-thirds majorities in the national legislature, state legislature, and local government councils, there is one more requirement:
The proposal for creating the new state must be approved in a referendum by at least two-thirds majority of the people living in the area where the demand for the new state originated
In other words, the residents of the area wanting to become a new state must also directly vote in favor of the proposal by a two-thirds supermajority for it to be approved
1 A public referendum is required, where the residents of the proposed new state get to directly vote on the matter
2 For the referendum to pass, at least two-thirds (or 667%) of the voters in the affected area must vote in favor of creating the new state
3 This direct democratic approval from the local population is an additional requirement, beyond just getting support from the various legislative bodies
The intent behind this seems to be:
To ensure the residents of the proposed new state truly want and support its creation, not just the politicians representing them
To make the process of creating a new state even more rigorous and based on genuine public consent, not just political maneuvering
To empower the local population and give them a direct say in determining their own statehood
The law states that:
To create a new state, the following steps must happen:
Demand for a new state: People in a specific area must want to create their own state
Proposal: A formal plan (proposal) to create the new state is made
Referendum: The people in the area where the demand started must vote on the proposal At least two-thirds of the voters must say “yes” for the proposal to pass
Additional approval: The proposal must also be approved by other parts of the country, but this part of the law isn’t included in the quote you provided
To create a new state, the people who live there must strongly agree to it through a vote If they do, the process continues with other steps before the new state can be formed
The Key points:
The decision to create a new state ultimately lies with the people who live there
A very high number of people (two-thirds) must support the idea for it to move forward
SubSection 1c
the result of the referendum is then approved by a simple majority of all the States of the Federation supported by a simple majority of members of the Houses of Assembly
Approval by States and Houses of Assembly
After the referendum, the result needs to be approved by:
1 Simple majority of States: More than half of the existing States in the Federation must agree to the creation of the new State
2 Simple majority of Houses of Assembly: More than half of the members of the Houses of Assembly (legislative bodies) of the affected area must also agree to the creation of the new State
Example:
Let’s say there are 36 States in the Federation For the proposal to pass, at least 19 States (more than half) must approve it
Similarly, if there are 100 members in the Houses of Assembly, at least 51 members must vote in favor of the proposal
In short: After the referendum, the result needs to be approved by a majority of the States and a majority of the members of the Houses of Assembly This ensures that the creation of a new State has broad support from both the existing States and the legislative bodies
After the proposal for creating a new state has
1 Received support from two-thirds majorities in the national legislature, state legislature, and local government councils
2 Been approved by a two-thirds majority in a referendum of the residents of the affected area
There is one more step required for the new state to be created:
The result of that referendum must then be approved by:
1 A simple majority (over 50%) of all the existing states in the federation
2 A simple majority (over 50%) of the members in the Houses of Assembly (state legislatures) across the country
So in essence, even after getting strong support at the local and state levels, the creation of the new state still needs to be approved by a broader consensus across the entire federal system
The intent behind this appears to be:
To ensure that the creation of a new state has support not just from the affected area, but from the country as a whole
To prevent a situation where a new state is created against the wishes of the majority of the existing states or state legislators
To create an additional layer of checks and balances in the process of state creation
To make the process of creating a new state as inclusive and participatory as possible at the national level
SubSection 1d
the proposal is approved by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of members of each House of the National Assembly
National Assembly Approval
The proposal to create a new State must be approved by the National Assembly, which consists of two Houses:
1 House of Representatives
2 Senate
For the proposal to pass, it needs to be approved by a:
Two-thirds majority in each House
This means that:
At least 2/3 of the members of the House of Representatives must vote in favor of the proposal
At least 2/3 of the members of the Senate must also vote in favor of the proposal
Example:
If there are 360 members in the House of Representatives, at least 240 members (2/3) must vote “yes”
If there are 109 members in the Senate, at least 73 members (2/3) must vote “yes”
The proposal to create a new State must be approved by a strong majority (2/3) of both Houses of the National Assembly, ensuring broad support from the national legislature
After all the previous steps have been completed, where:
1 There was a request for creating a new state supported by two-thirds majorities in the national legislature, state legislature, and local government councils
2 A referendum was held in the affected area, where two-thirds of the residents voted in favor of creating the new state
3 The result of that referendum was then approved by a simple majority of all the existing states and a simple majority of state legislators across the country
The final step is that the proposal for creating the new state must be approved by a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of the members in each House of the National Assembly
In other words, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, the two chambers of the national legislature, must each pass a resolution approving the creation of the new state, and this resolution must be supported by at least two-thirds of the members in each House
This is the ultimate approval required at the national level, beyond the earlier steps
It requires an even higher threshold of two-thirds majorities in both Houses of the National Assembly
This ensures that there is very strong and broad support for the creation of the new state among the national legislators
The overall intent seems to be to make the process of creating a new state as rigorous, participatory, and consensual as possible – requiring approvals at multiple levels of government and from various stakeholders
For a proposal to be approved, it must be voted on and passed by a strong majority of lawmakers in both the upper and lower houses of the national parliament
Breaking it down:
Two-thirds majority: This means that at least 67% of the members in each house must vote in favor of the proposal for it to pass
Each House of the National Assembly: This refers to the two main chambers of the parliament, typically called the Senate (upper house) and the House of Representatives (lower house)
In essence:
To become law, the proposal needs strong support from both houses of parliament This high approval threshold ensures that significant decisions are made with broad consensus among lawmakers
