The 1999 Nigeria constitution has been blamed for laying the background for the marginalisation of the South East geopolitical zone of the country by Senator Victor Umeh.
The representative of Anambra Central Senatorial District made this position known when he interacted with newsmen in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital.
Umeh spoke on July 6, 2025 when he joined other members of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution on a courtesy call on Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State.
The senator, who maintained that the South East remains the most underrepresented zone in Nigeria, blamed the current constitutional framework fashioned by the military.
According to him, the military introduced certain structural imbalances that have continued to unjustly marginalise the region.
Umeh said: “The first problem is that the constitution we operate today was not produced through a democratic, civilian process.
“It was a military constitution, crafted by a military government that imposed a structure of governance, which has consistently disadvantaged the South East.”
The senator noted that the number of states and local governments were key determinants in federal resource distribution, civil service recruitment, ministerial and other federal appointments, lamenting that the South East has only five states out of the 36 states of the federation, with only 95 local government areas out of a national total of 774.
He added: “The South West has 137 LGAs, South South has over 100, and the most favoured North West states like Kano and Jigawa, for instance, has 44 and 38 LGAs respectively.
“These structural imbalances have lasting consequences on federal appointments, resource allocation, and representation.
“Ministers are appointed from the states, and we have only five ministers from the South East, while other zones with more states have more representation.
“The current administration has up to eight ministers from some regions, and we have just five.
“During national conventions of political parties, delegates come from LGAs.
“With the fewest LGAs, we consistently have the least voice.
“So, it’s a systemic suppression that cuts across political representation, economic development, and national relevance.”
The senator described the process of amending the constitution to correct those imbalances as “herculean”, expressing the hope that the rest of the country would support the South East’s quest for fairness.
Umeh added: “At the 2014 National Conference, which had 492 eminent Nigerian leaders, it was agreed that one additional state should be created in the South East as a first step toward equality.
“That is the state we are now pursuing.
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“Even if no other new state is created across the country, Nigeria should, in the name of equity, create at least one more state in the South East.”
The senator, who further reiterated his support for state police, maintained that decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force would offer an active response to the worsening insecurity across the country.
Umeh said: “The centralised command structure for policing has failed.
“We need to devolve powers and allow state policing to combat insecurity more effectively.
“Even the Governors’ Forum is beginning to shift its position on this.”
Expressing scepticism over the effectiveness of piecemeal amendments, Umeh maintained that what the country needed was a brand new constitution that would emanate from the people.
He however, assured that efforts must continue in the push for constitutional justice, stressing that the pressure of injustice will surely force a reckoning.
He added: “Some of us have called for a completely new constitution, but if that’s not feasible now, we must improve what we have while we wait for the right thing to be done.”
