The article by Kunle Adesanya is eloquently written but fundamentally misrepresents how state creation works in Nigeria and what H.E Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel is actually doing.
It accuses H.E Senator Otunba Gbenga Justus Daniel of deception for doing exactly what the Constitution expects a sponsor of a state creation bill to do.
- The Senator Never Claimed He Can Create a State Alone
No serious person, and certainly not a two-term Governor and current Senator who is a trained Engineer, believes he can create a state by fiat.
Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution places the responsibility for state creation on multiple institutions, but someone must initiate and drive the process. That is the role of the sponsor.
H.E Senator Otunba Gbenga Justus Daniel sponsored Senate Bill 564 on 27th November 2024 for Ijebu State. He has never said the bill alone equals a state. What he has done is the legitimate legislative work:
- Building national consensus across party lines, culminating in the publicized backing of 75 Senators as of July 2026, which surpasses the two-thirds of the Senate required to advance a constitutional alteration proposal.
- Securing buy-in from the affected population through consultations with the late Awujale, the Akarigbo, and all Ijebu and Remo traditional councils.
- Harmonizing the name to Ijebu-Remo State to preserve Remo identity after the Remo Traditional Council meeting of July 3, 2025.
To call these steps “political theatre” is to misunderstand legislative advocacy. How else is a referendum supposed to succeed without prior traditional and political consensus?
- A Palace Endorsement Is Not Meant To Replace a Referendum – It Is Meant To Prepare For It
The article mocks palace meetings as if our H.E Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel is presenting them as a substitute for a referendum. He is not!, kindly be informed, sir!.
In Nigerian state creation history, no referendum has ever been conducted without first demonstrating that the people of the affected area want the state. The way you demonstrate that desire before INEC conducts a referendum is through resolutions of traditional councils, local government councils, professional bodies, and community leaders.
The meeting at the Palace of the Awujale on September 28, 2026, where Ijebu-Ode was endorsed as proposed capital, was not presented as a constitutional finality. It was presented as what it was – stakeholder alignment. That alignment is a prerequisite for the next stages, not a replacement for them.
- The Constitutional Roadmap Has Been Made Public
Contrary to the claim that there is “political fog,” H.E Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel has been transparent about the architecture:
- Stage 1 – Legislative Sponsorship: Done. Bill sponsored.
- Stage 2 – National Assembly Support: Substantially advanced. 75 Senators, exceeding the 73 required.
- Stage 3 – State and Local Support: Ongoing. Consultations with Ogun State House of Assembly members and Local Government Chairmen from Ogun East.
- Stage 4 – Referendum: Will be conducted by INEC when the National Assembly passes the bill to that stage.
- Stage 5 – Approval by 24 State Houses of Assembly and final passage by National Assembly and Presidential Assent.
This is the same roadmap every other state creation request is following. None of the 30+ state creation requests before the 10th National Assembly has reached referendum stage. To single out Ijebu-Remo and demand referendum documents today is to feign ignorance of where the entire national process is.
- On Capital and Name Evolution – That Is Consensus Building, Not Confusion
The article points to the evolution from Ijebu State to Ijebu-Remo State as evidence of inconsistency. It is actually evidence of leadership and listening.
Remo people, through the Remo Committee on State Creation, had valid concerns about identity and capital. Instead of imposing Ijebu State, our dear leader, H.E Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel facilitated a compromise that produced Ijebu-Remo State with clear recognition of both identities. That is how you build the unity needed to win a two-thirds referendum.
Conclusion
The people of Ijebuland are not being deceived. They know state creation is difficult – it has not happened since 1996. What our Senator has done is what no elected representative from Ogun East has done in the last 30 years: move the demand from street agitation to the floor of the Senate, secure national legislative numbers, and force it into serious constitutional consideration.
To call that “straws dressed up as milestones” is unfair. The 75 Senators are not straws. The public hearing of July 4, 2025 is not a straw. The unified position of Ijebu and Remo Obas is not a straw.
These are constitutional footprints. The documents do speak – for anyone willing to read them beyond political cynicism.
ZMO writes from Ijebu Ode.
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