by Nurat Uthman
Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Wednesday passed into law a bill to divide Oyo State into two distinct entities.
The constitutional amendment, sponsored by Akeem Adeyemi and six colleagues, proposes creating New Oyo State with Oyo town as its capital and renaming the remaining area to Ibadan State, with Ibadan City as its capital.
“The bill is straightforward and doesn’t require debate,” declared Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, referring it to the Committee on Constitutional Review for further action.
This development revives longstanding discussions about restructuring Oyo State. Created on February 3, 1976, from the former Western State during General Murtala Mohammed’s military regime, Oyo State has been subject to multiple division attempts. Previous bills proposing Oke-Ogun and Ibadan states failed to gain traction.
The states are hereby called New Oyo State, with Oyo town as the capital while the second is Ibadan state, with Ibadan City as the capital.
