States of Nigeria - wikipedia States of Nigeria States of Nigeria Federated state Location Nigeria Number 36 States Populations 1,703,358 ( Bayelsa ) -- 9,383,682 ( Kano ) Areas 3,580 km ( 1,381 sq mi ) ( Lagos ) -- 76,360 km ( 29,484 sq mi ) ( Niger ) Government State government Subdivisions Local Government Area Nigeria This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Nigeria Constitution Human rights Government President ( list ) Muhammadu Buhari Vice President Yemi Osinbajo Cabinet Federal Parastatals National Assembly Senate House of Representatives Judiciary Supreme Court Subdivisions States State governors Local Government Areas Elections Recent elections Presidential : 2011 2015 2019 Parliamentary : 2011 2015 2019 Political parties Foreign relations Minister of Foreign Affairs Diplomatic missions of Nigeria to Nigeria Passport Visa requirements Other countries Atlas A Nigerian State is a federated political entity that shares sovereignty with the Federal Government of Nigeria. There are 36 States in Nigeria, bound together by a federal agreement. The Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) is not a state and under the direct control of the Federal Government. The States are further divided into a total of 774 Local Government Areas. Under the Nigerian Constitution, states have the power to ratify constitutional amendments. The Nigerian traditional states predate all the modern states, but have no legal or administrative powers. Contents 1 Current states and the Federal Capital Territory 2 Evolution of Nigerian states 3 Government 3.1 Legislature 3.2 Executive 3.3 Judiciary 4 Chronology 5 See also 6 Notes 7 Sources 8 External links Current states and the Federal Capital Territory A clickable map of Nigeria showing its 36 states and the federal capital territory. States Abia Adamawa Akwa Ibom Anambra Bauchi Bayelsa Benue Borno Cross River Delta Ebonyi Enugu Edo Ekiti Gombe Imo Jigawa Kaduna Kano Katsina Kebbi Kogi Kwara Lagos Nasarawa Niger Ogun Ondo Osun Oyo Plateau Rivers Sokoto Taraba Yobe Zamfara Territory Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) Evolution of Nigerian states Date Events Map 1960 - 1963 At the time of independence in 1960, Nigeria was a Federal State of three Regions : Northern, Western, and Eastern. Additionally, provinces, which were a legacy of colonial times, remained extant until they were abolished in 1976. 1963 - 1967 In 1963, two provinces were detached from the Western Region to form the new Mid-Western Region. 1967 - 1976 In 1967, the regions were replaced by 12 states due to a military decree ; only the former Mid-Western Region escaped division, and formed a single state following the restructuring. From 1967 to 1970 the areas of Mid-Western State and the Eastern Region attempted to secede, as a nation called Biafra during the Nigerian civil war. 1976 - 1987 In 1976, seven new states were created, making 19 altogether. 1987 - 1991 During this period, there were 21 states and later, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. 1991 - 1996 During this period, there were 30 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The Federal Capital Territory was established in 1991. In 1987 two new states were established, followed by another nine in 1991, bringing the total to 30. The latest change, in 1996, resulted in the present number of 36 states. Government As sovereign entities, States of Nigeria have the right to organize / structure their individual governments in any way within the parameters set by the Constitution of Nigeria. Legislature At the State level, the legislature is unicameral, with the number of its members equal to three times the number of legislatures it has in the Federal House of Representatives. It has the power to legislate on matters on the concurrent list. Executive At the State level, the Head of the executive is called the Governor, who has the power to appoint people to the State Executive Council, subject to the advice and consent of the State House of Assembly ( Legislature ). The Head of a ministry at the State level is called a commissioner, who is assisted by a permanent secretary, who is also a senior civil servant of the State. Judiciary The Judiciary is one of the co-equal arms of the State government concerned with the interpretation of the laws of the State government. The Judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of the State appointed by the governor subject to the approval of the State House of Assembly. Chronology Regions States 1960 1963 1967 1976 1991 Eastern South - Eastern Cross-River Akwa Ibom Cross-River East Central Imo Imo Abia Abia Ebonyi Anambra Enugu Enugu Anambra Rivers Bayelsa Rivers Western Mid-Western Bendel Delta Edo Western Lagos Western Ogun Ondo Ekiti Ondo Oyo Osun Oyo Northern Benue - Plateau Plateau Nasarawa Plateau Benue Benue Kogi Kwara Kwara Kano Jigawa Kano North Central Kaduna Kaduna Katsina North Western Niger Sokoto Kebbi Sokoto Sokoto Zamfara North Eastern Bauchi Bauchi Gombe Borno Borno Yobe Gongola Adamawa Taraba See also Nigeria portal List of Nigerian states by population ISO 3166 - 2 : NG List of state governors of Nigeria Notes Jump up ^ `` USAID Nigeria mission : Nigeria administrative divisions '' Archived 2007 - 01 - 13 at the Wayback Machine. United States Agency for International Development, October 2004, last accessed 21 April 2010 Jump up ^ Kraxberger, Brennan ( 2005 ) `` Strangers, Indigenes and Settlers : Contested Geographies of Citizenship in Nigeria '' Space and Polity 9 ( 1 ) : pp. 9 - 27, pages 10, 11, & 15 Sources Gboyega Ajayi ( 2007 ). The military and the Nigerian state, 1966 - 1993 : a study of the strategies of political power control. Trenton, New Jersey : Africa World Press. ISBN 1 - 59221 - 568 - 8. Solomon Akhere Benjamin ( 1999 ). The 1996 state and local government reorganizations in Nigeria. Ibadan : Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research. ISBN 978 - 181 - 238 - 9. Rotimi T. Suberu ( 1994 ). 1991 state and local government reorganizations in Nigeria. Ibadan : Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. ISBN 978 - 2015 - 28 - 8. External links `` New States of Nigeria ''. Statoids. Headline News in Nigeria States States of Nigeria Federal Capital Territory ( FCT ) Abia Adamawa Akwa Ibom Anambra Bauchi Bayelsa Benue Borno Cross River Delta Ebonyi Edo Ekiti Enugu Gombe Imo Jigawa Kaduna Kano Katsina Kebbi Kogi Kwara Lagos Nasarawa Niger Ogun Ondo Osun Oyo Plateau Rivers Sokoto Taraba Yobe Zamfara Lists of States of Nigeria Listed by : area population GDP date of statehood capitals governors nicknames highest point traditional states Articles on first - level administrative divisions of African countries Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Côte d'Ivoire ( Ivory Coast ) Djibouti Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Ethiopia Gabon The Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea - Bissau Kenya Lesotho Liberia Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa South Sudan Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe Table of administrative country subdivisions by country Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=States_of_Nigeria&oldid=855360395 '' Categories : States of Nigeria Subdivisions of Nigeria Lists of subdivisions of Nigeria Country subdivisions in Africa First - level administrative country subdivisions Nigeria geography - related lists Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Pages using deprecated image syntax Talk Contents About Wikipedia Boarisch Català Dansk Eesti Español Esperanto فارسی Français हिन्दी Italiano עברית Kurdî Кырык мары Lietuvių Македонски 日本 語 Norsk Português Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Türkçe اردو Yorùbá 16 more Edit links This page was last edited on 17 August 2018, at 18 : 41 ( UTC ). 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Question: nigeria became a federation of 19 states in
Answer: 1976-1987