A bill currently under consideration in the House of Representatives seeks to divide Oyo State into two distinct entities, creating a new Oyo State with Oyo town as its capital and renaming the remaining portion as Ibadan State, with Ibadan City as its capital.
The bill, sponsored by Akeem Adeyemi (APC, Oyo) and six other lawmakers, has successfully passed its second reading. It is now referred to the Committee on Constitutional Review for further scrutiny and legislative processes.
Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, deemed the proposal clear-cut, and no debate was held before its referral. The bill’s focus is on constitutional amendments to facilitate the state’s restructuring.
Oyo State, originally established on February 3, 1976, after the breakup of the Western State during General Murtala Mohammed’s military regime, has seen multiple attempts to form new states in the past. Previous proposals to create Oke-Ogun and Ibadan states were unsuccessful.
In a related effort, a separate bill proposing the creation of Oke-Ogun State is also under review, sponsored by Oluwole Oke (PDP, Osun), as part of the ongoing constitutional amendments.
