By Frank Ulom
ABUJA (CONVERSEER) – The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has clarified that no new states have been created, contrary to viral social media reports claiming the approval of 12 additional states.
Presiding over Tuesday’s plenary on 22 July 2025, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the Senate is yet to conclude the constitutional amendment processes required for any state creation in Nigeria.
“The public should know that the Senate has not concluded the processes of getting a final report for deliberation on constitutional amendment. Therefore, no single state, proposed or otherwise, has been created,” Akpabio stated.
He emphasised that the creation of new states involves several stringent steps, including securing the concurrence of two-thirds of all State Houses of Assembly, followed by approval from both chambers of the National Assembly before constitutional amendments can be enacted.
Akpabio described the trending reports as “fake social media claims,” noting that some communities have begun planning for non-existent states based on misinformation.
“I have seen some communities holding meetings on how they are going to develop their new states because the social media said states have been created for them. Unfortunately, not one state has even been, no new states created,” he said.
He revealed that there are over 42 proposals for state creation but none has reached the stage of final zonal or national deliberations, nor been transmitted to State Houses of Assembly for concurrence.
The Senate President also expressed concern about the misuse of social media, warning that unchecked fake news poses a threat to national unity and governance.
“I hope that the way Africans use social media will not break the society. We have seen fake letters of appointment and even fake claims of rejections that never happened. This is the problem we are facing with social media today,” Akpabio added.
He urged Nigerians to disregard false reports and rely on official communication channels for verified information on constitutional and governance matters. No new state created. No new states created.
Recall that social media went frenzy with a circulating list of purported new states allegedly approved by the Senate which excluded Ogoja and other top proposed states.
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