Fact Emerge on Economic Restructuring Bill’ For Nigeria To Be Made Up Of 42 States
A viral Whatsapp post indicated by the instant messaging application entitled: “Below is the purported kite being flown by the Federal Government – Nigerian Economic Restructuring Bill 2021,” claims Nigeria will be made up of 42 states with seven each of her geo-political zones.
The post, which bears the author as ‘Ayo Akinfe’ on his website, said: [1] Nigeria will be made up of 42 states, with seven per each of her constituent geo-political zone. These shall be:
The post, which has also been shared on other social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitter, has generated mixed reactions. Many have debated and deliberated over the post but yet there is nothing of such.
Meanwhile, one @shawnfendi on Twitter shared the post and it had over 100 engagements. Also, @JustSociety4all with over 13,000 followers, shared the post on her timeline.
According to afrobarometer.org, Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and 1 Federal Capital Territory. Each of the 36 states is a semi-autonomous political unit that shares powers with the Federal Government as enumerated under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
From 1960 to 1966, Nigeria operated on the basis of Northern region, Western region, Eastern region, and the Mid-Western region.
The creation of states began in 1967 with General Yakubu Gowon coming to power via a coup d’état. He dissolved the regions and created twelve states out of them.
Verification
States of Nigeria
In verifying the authenticity of the post, a search through the internet was conducted to find a traceable background link to the post but no credible media outlet has reported any news about the purported bill.
A twitter account owned by Ayo Akinfe (@AyoAkinfe) where the story was shared after it was posted on its website, created more clarification about the post.
While responding to enquiries on the purported bill which bears his name, he said it was “just a proposal from me.
“I intend to publish a collection of all my thoughts in a book”.
Akinfe, who authored the piece, said he writes 10-point columns every day on his website. The London-based journalist however said “Ignore all those wayo people attributing it to the government.”
When the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu was reached, he described the report as ‘unknown’ and asked that the presidency be left out of it since it was not a draft bill from the presidency.
Conclusion
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The trending piece, which has been attributed to the federal government is FALSE.
The author, Ayo Akinfe clarified that he wrote the piece as a proposal in his column, hence the Nigerian Economic Restructuring Bill 2021 is not a purported kite being flown by the Federal Government as widely circulated on whatsapp and other social media platforms.
Credit: The Nation
