A group of stakeholders, has demanded the splitting of Minna Emirate council, the seat of one of the first class traditional rulers in Niger State, into five autonomous emirates.

The group made this demand in a petition to the state House of Assembly, titled ‘Request for the creation of additional emirates in Minna emirate of Niger state.’ The group stated in the petition dated March 17, 2020 and signed by 13 of them, some district heads, that the current structure of the emirate comprising five Local Government Areas with Minna as the Emirate headquarters was no longer acceptable.

“It is therefore ,against the above background that we passionately request Mr. Governor to as a matter of urgency approve the immediate creation of Kuta , Paiko , Galadimankogo , Bosso/Minna ,and Kafinkoro Emirates and a new Emir of Bosso/Minna extraction be appointed as Emir of Minna”.

The petition which is already before the house committee on public petitions will become the second in the north in the last one year.

The petitioners also hinged their demand on “the failure of the Minna Emirate Council not to concede to the government’s directive which has dragged for too long and has caused a lot of concerns to the generality of the people of the Emirate.

“Consequently if Minna Emirate cannot sustain the marriage of convenience between fivecomponent districts then separation becomes inevitable” ,the petitioners stated.

While commending the governor for what they described as “his foresight, fairness and the need to maintain the history of the Emirate without any distortion” the petitioners said the efforts made by some of the elders to resolve the impasse “appeared not good enough”.

This is the second time within two years that the emirate wouldbe facing an uprising from princes and major stakeholders in the state. In 2018, the stakeholders vehemently objected to the creation and appointments of about 250 districtand village heads by the incumbent traditional ruler Dr. Umar Farouq Bahago, on the grounds that the exercise was undemocratic and skewed, to the detriment of other princes, ruling houses and stakeholders.

Governor Abubakar Sani Bello, had to intervene by canceling the turbanning of the district and the village heads and setting up a committee to look into the dispute. However ,despite the fact that the committee had submitted its report and a white paper issued, the governor has not constituted a White Paper Implementation Committee . (Daily Sun)