Zamfara State Governor Dauda Lawal has called for a suspension of efforts to create additional states, urging the Federal Government to focus on making the existing 36 states financially and administratively viable.

Lawal spoke in Gusau during an interaction with media executives as part of activities marking Zamfara State’s 30th anniversary.

While acknowledging that state creation had brought government closer to communities and supported employment and urban development, the governor said the financial difficulties facing existing states raised concerns about the sustainability of creating more administrative units.

“Having realised the financial challenges, even the states that have already been created now find it very difficult to function effectively because of finances,” he said.

Zamfara was created from the old Sokoto State in October 1996 by the military administration of the late General Sani Abacha, with Gusau as its capital.

Lawal said the conditions that informed the creation of Zamfara and other states had changed, warranting a reassessment of further demands for state creation.

“So, I think it is something we need to really think through before we begin to agitate for the creation of additional states,” he said.

His position comes amid the National Assembly’s ongoing constitutional review, which has received 56 requests for the creation of new states across the six geopolitical zones.

“But for me, for now, I think we need to put it on hold and let the existing states function effectively,” Lawal said.

The governor, however, said Zamfara’s creation had delivered benefits by bringing government institutions closer to communities previously located on the periphery of the old Sokoto State.

He said his administration’s “Rescue Mission” was focused on six areas: security, education, healthcare, agriculture, infrastructure and human development, with implementation, according to him, reaching between 60 and 70 per cent.

Lawal also said Zamfara was seeking to diversify its economy through the development of its solid mineral resources, particularly critical minerals.

“Today in Nigeria, if you speak about critical minerals, Zamfara is number one. We have seen it, tested it and we have the data,” he said.

He added that infrastructure development and an improved investment environment remained central to efforts to attract investment and reposition the state.

“We need to make sure the ones that are already there are comfortable and are bringing the kind of development that people expect,” he said.