On October 19, 2024, the CDD War Room received a claim via the Meedan chatbot that the president, Bola Tinubu, sent a bill to the National Assembly to return to regional government.
A similar version of the claim has been trending across social media.
Claim: President Tinubu submits bill for regional system of government
Verification:
In June 2024, a private bill was reportedly submitted to the president by Dr Akin Fapohunda seeking a return to a regional system of government for Nigeria. However, we could not ascertain whether the presidency received the bill.
While responding to enquiries regarding the bill for the regional system of government, the House of Representatives denied receiving any bill on regional government from the president.
The claim went viral (again) shortly after the president reshuffled his cabinet and merged some of the existing ministries. One of such ministries is the Niger Delta Ministry which has now been merged and renamed as the Ministry of Regional Development.
The new Ministry of Regional Development will now accommodate all the development commissions across all the geo-political zones and the existing activities of the Ministry of Niger Delta Development. The ministry will oversee all the regional development commissions, such as Niger Delta Development Commission, North West Development Commission, South West Development Commission, and North East Development Commission.
Verdict: FALSE
The CDD War Room can confirm that the president did not submit any bill to return to the regional government to the National Assembly. We found that in June 2024, there was a private bill circulating, calling for the return to regional government. However, the Ministry of Regional Development does not equate return to a regional system of government.