The Oyo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, called for the creating of new state constituencies in the state in consonance with the provisions of section 112 of the 1999 constitution (as amended).
The lawmaker urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to redress the “imbalance” in constituencies’ distribution, arguing that the state ought to have a minimum of 42 state constituencies rather than the present 32 constituencies.
According to Nigerian Tribune, the Assembly premised its call on the fact that the state was divided into 32 state constituencies based on the 1991 population figure while there had been over 60 per cent increase in population going by the 2006 census figure.
The Assembly’s prayer was drawn from a motion sponsored by seven lawmakers, titled, “Call on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for Upward Review of State Constituencies in Oyo State in Compliance with Constitutional Provisions”, at Tuesday’s plenary.
Reading the motion on behalf of six others, Honorable Kazeem Isiaka of Oyo East/Oyo West constituency, argued that the population increase was enough justification for the call for an upward review in the number of state constituencies.
He added that the need for upward review in state constituencies was also epitomised by the fact that some of the lawmakers in the state Assembly represented two local government areas
