Ekiti State is a state in southwest Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, created on October 1, 1996 alongside five other new states by military dictator General Sani Abacha

Sani Abacha

General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, he was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....

. The state, created out of the territory of Ondo State

Ondo State

Ondo State, Nigeria was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It originally included what is now Ekiti State, which was split off in 1996. Akure is the state capital.-Government and society:...

, covered the former twelve local government areas that made up the Ekiti Zone of old Ondo State; however, on creation, it took off with sixteen (16) Local Government Areas (LGAs), having had an additional four carved out of the old ones.