Nigeria - States
The National Conference in its final report in August 2014 recommended the creation of 18 additional states to bring the number of states in the country to 54. The recommendation was made by the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government jointly headed by Ike Nwachukwu and Mohammed Kumalia.
Initially, some Northern delegates kicked against moves to create additional states apart from the one proposed for the South-East which was overwhelmingly supported. But after series of consultations by the leadership of delegations, the Conference unanimously adopted the recommendation for the creation of additional 18 new states.
| Rank | State | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kano State | 9,401,288 |
| 2 | Lagos State | 9,113,605 |
| 3 | Kaduna State | 6,113,503 |
| 4 | Katsina State | 5,801,584 |
| 5 | Oyo State | 5,580,894 |
| 6 | Rivers State | 5,198,605 |
| 7 | Bauchi State | 4,653,066 |
| 8 | Jigawa State | 4,361,002 |
| 9 | Benue State | 4,253,641 |
| 10 | Anambra State | 4,177,828 |
| 11 | Borno State | 4,171,104 |
| 12 | Delta State | 4,112,445 |
| 13 | Niger State | 3,954,772 |
| 14 | Imo State | 3,927,563 |
| 15 | Akwa Ibom State | 3,178,950 |
| 16 | Ogun State | 3,751,140 |
| 17 | Sokoto State | 3,702,676 |
| 18 | Ondo State | 3,460,877 |
| 19 | Osun State | 3,416,959 |
| 20 | Kogi State | 3,314,043 |
| 21 | Zamfara State | 3,278,873 |
| 22 | Enugu State | 3,267,837 |
| 23 | Kebbi State | 3,256,541 |
| 24 | Edo State | 3,233,366 |
| 25 | Plateau State | 3,206,531 |
| 26 | Adamawa State | 3,178,950 |
| 27 | Cross River State | 2,892,988 |
| 28 | Abia State | 2,845,380 |
| 29 | Ekiti State | 2,398,957 |
| 30 | Kwara State | 2,365,353 |
| 31 | Gombe State | 2,365,040 |
| 32 | Yobe State | 2,321,339 |
| 33 | Taraba State | 2,294,800 |
| 34 | Ebonyi State | 2,176,947 |
| 35 | Nasarawa State | 1,869,377 |
| 36 | Bayelsa State | 1,704,515 |
| – | Federal Capital Territory | 1,405,201 |
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