Want to know how many states are in Nigeria? If yes, the you’ll get answers in this article.

Nigeria received her independence in 1960 and became a republic in 1963. Ever since then, the nation has undergone several constitutional reforms which has seen several states created.

States in Nigeria

currently, there are 36 in Nigeria. But it didn’t use to be that way. Nigeria was previously divided into regions. And it was from those regions all the 36 states we have now were carved out.

The 36 states in Nigeria are:

1. Abia
2. Adamawa
3. Akwa Ibom
4. Anambra
5. Bauchi
6. Bayelsa
7. Benue
8. Borno
9. Cross River
10. Delta
11. Ebonyi
12. Enugu
13. Edo
14. Ekiti
15. Gombe
16. Imo
17. Jigawa
18. Kaduna
19. Kano
20. Katsina
21. Kebbi
22. Kogi
23. Kwara
24. Lagos
25. Nasarawa
26. Niger
27. Ogun
28. Ondo
29. Osun
30. Oyo
31. Plateau
32. Rivers
33. Sokoto
34. Taraba
35. Yobe
36. Zamfara

Meanwhile, aside from the 36 states in Nigeria, there’s the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, which is not a state. Abuja is the administrative headquarters of Nigeria and is home to Aso Rock, which in it the office of the president is located.

Aso Rock is the Nigerian equivalent to The White House in the United States of America.

How the 36 states in Nigeria came to being

In 1960, during the independence of Nigeria, there were only 3 regions — Northern, Western, and Eastern regions. Those three regions lasted from 1960 to 1963.

Then in 1963 a new region was carved out from the Western region — Mid-western region — and this lasted for 1963 to 1967.

In 1963 those 3 regions were replaced with 12 states, based on a military decree.

Those 12 states as at then were:

1. Northwestern state
2. Kaduna
3. Kano
4. Northeastern state
5. Kwara
6. Benue-Plateau state
7. Western state
8. Bendel
9. East Central State
10. Cross River
11. Rivers
12. Lagos

However, Nigeria only existed as a 12-state-nation from 1967-1976.

In 1976, 7 states new states were created from the existing 12, therefore taking the total number of states to 19.

And as a result, the states in Nigeria as at 1976 were:

1. Sokoto
2. Kaduna
3. Kano
4. Bauchi
5. Borno
6. Kwara
7. Niger
8. Plateau
9. Gongola
10. Oyo
11. Ondo
12. Benue
13. Ogun
14. Lagos
15. Bendel
16. Anambra
17. Cross River
18. Imo
19. Rivers

Nigeria as a nation of 19 states lasted from 1976-1987, and then in 1987 2 more states were created — namely Akwa Ibom and Katsina States. They were both carved out of Cross Rivers and Kaduna States respectively.

Meanwhile, on the 12th of December 1991 FCT Abuja was created and made the capital city of Nigeria. It, however, wasn’t and still isn’t classified as a state.

The current 36 states in Nigeria were created from 1991 to 1996. And ever since, Nigeria has remained a nation of 36 states.

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