Abia State Creation

Abia State Creation

Abia State is a state in southeastern Nigeria. The capital is Umuahia, although the major commercial city is Aba, formerly a British colonial government outpost. The state was created in 1991 from part of Imo State and its citizens are predominantly Igbo people (95% of population). It is one of the nine constituent states of the Niger Delta region.

Abia” is an acronym formed from the initial letters of four groups of people, namely: Aba, Bende, lsuikwuato and Afikpo. These constituted the major groups in the state at its creation. At the country’s independence in 1960, Abia was part of the then Eastern Region. From 27th May 1967, it became a part of the East Central State, created by the then Head of the Federal Military Government, General Yakubu Gowon. On 3rd February 1976, East Central State was split into two states(Anambra and Imo) by the Federal Military Government headed by General Murtala Mohammed. On 27th August 1991, the Federal Military Government under General Ibrahim Babangida carved out Abia State from Imo State, bringing to thirty the number of states in Nigeria. Furthermore, in October 1996, the Federal Military Government under General Sani Abacha created six more states bringing to thirty-six the number of states in the federation. During this exercise, four local government areas (LGAs) namely, Onicha, Ohaozara, Afikpo North and Afikpo South, which occupy the northeastern corner of the state were transferred to the (newly created) Ebonyi State.