Immediate-past Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, has backed additional state creation in the South-East region of Nigeria.

He made this known in a statement released Thursday in Abuja by his media aide, Chiagoziem Enoch.

His stance comes amid the separate views held by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodinma and Abia State Governor Alex Otti during the hearing on the 1999 Constitution review, held in Owerri on July 19, 2025.

Uzodinma had backed additional state creation, contrary to his Abia State counterpart, Otti, who hinted that Nigeria does not need extra states since existing ones lack economic viability.

Reacting, Ikonne said that the clear marginalisation of Ndi Igbo has continually provided the canvas upon which the agitation for a sovereign nation for Ndi Igbo has rested.

“It is therefore worrisome that Gov. Otti, who should be in the frontline with the likes of Senator Uzodinma in leading the agitation for the creation of an additional state for Abia to address this abnormality, is the one leading the gang to frustrate the actualisation of an additional state for the South-East,” he stated.