Press Releases

Lagos Challenges 2006 Census Result At Tribunal

Jul 5, 2009 - The Lagos State Government has formally petitioned the National Census Tribunal contesting the figure of 9, 113, 605 declared by the National Population Commission (NPC) as the population of Lagos.

In a press statement signed by the State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Olasupo Shasore (SAN),the State Government contended that the Census Result for the State as a whole is unsustainable, pointing out that the Exercise was not properly conducted in the State.

Describing the figure as inaccurate and unsustainable, the Government, which hinged its conclusions on the result of “rigorous and in depth analysis of the entire census exercise at the State’s Ministry of Science and Technology”, said many residents in at least 19 of the 57 Local Government and Local Council Development areas were not counted.

According to the Government, “The figures declared were unlikely to be correct having regards to the available data and statistics”, adding that known demographic indicators such as immunization statistics, schools attendance population, birth rate and projection and Housing identity all show empirically that the population of Lagos State is much more than ascribed to it by the NPC.

Other indicators relied upon to back the challenge, the Government said, include social and economic factors inclusive of high industrialization, rapid urbanization and improved standard of living in the State as well as such other demographic parameter as high immigration into the State, average household size and population growth rates as certified by international organizations and agencies such as WHO, UNESCO, UNFPA among others.

Copies of the schools attendance population for 2007 in both public and private primary and secondary schools, as collated by APPSERV Applied Services Limited, a private Consultant company contracted by the Government in 2005 and the State’s immunization figures for 2003 – 2006 and 2007 – 2009 were also attached to back the petition.

The Government said upon receipt of the figures declared by the NPC, the State Ministry of Justice, spear-headed by the Attorney-General, immediately went into a detailed study and preparation spanning a period of five months to challenge the veracity of the declared figure.

“It is against this backdrop that affected Local Government Areas, through their respective chairmen and traditional rulers and other community leaders, who had also been inundated with complaints by residents within their communities relating to the failure and/or improper conduct of the census exercise in their communities within the State filed petitions before the Census Tribunal Zone C, Abuja on the 4th of June 2009”, the Government said.

It said the petition filed by the 19 LGAs/LCDAs against the NPC as the body established by law to undertake enumeration, the NPC chairman who declared the results complained of and the Attorney General of the Federation as the chief Law Officer of the country asks for an order to declare the results declared by NPC void, an order to compel the NPC to release Post Enumeration Survey (PES) with regards to the respective Local Government Areas and the State as well as an order for a recount.

One of the grounds on which the petitions filed challenges the declared results, the Government said, is that the respondents did not create adequate enumeration areas and/or make provision for adequate enumeration in the Enumeration Areas (EAs) created commensurate with the population density of many areas within the State.

“The few Enumeration Areas available were ill-equipped and/or ill-prepared for the exercise as a result of which thousands of Lagosians were not counted in the respective LGAs”, the Government said, pointing out that the fact of the inadequate enumeration materials and non-payment of enumeration staff was a matter of public knowledge just as the record affecting the 2006 census in the LGAs and Lagos State generally.

“Several complaints were received from many residents within the various Local Government/Local Council Development areas that the Respondents’ Enumerators did not get to their respective localities at all, as a result of which they were not counted”, it said.

Other grounds for the petition, according to the Government, include that the Census figures released for the Complainant LGAs did not take cognizance of the peculiar and known facts and situations which affect the population dynamics of Lagos State and its Local Government Areas.

“This explains why, despite the high number of people migrating into the State on a daily basis, the NPC declared a higher population figure for another State in the Federation whose population dynamics is nowhere near Lagos”, it said, adding that no consideration was given to national and international reports released during the period classifying Lagos as megalopolis with a population in the region of 17 million people.

The Government said it will be calling local and international demographic consultants as witnesses in the course of the case adding that although it has not received a Hearing Notice for the hearing of the petitions at the Census Tribunal, there are indications that the inaugural sitting of the Tribunal may hold on July 21, 2009.

In the petition which they filed against NPC, the complainants comprising, HRH Oba Moroof Adekunle Ojoola (Ojon of Ejigboland), Chairman, Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area and Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Area, asserted that the census exercise was not properly conducted in the area as many residents were not counted while they described the entire exercise in Lagos State as inaccurate, anomalous and unsustainable.

The complainants declared, “As indigenes and residents, and on behalf of the various communities /localities, Oshodi-Isolo LGA has a right to proper and accurate enumeration and census figures recorded for their communities/localities , Local Council Development Areas and Local Government Areas”.

They further asserted that in most Enumeration areas, it was observed that enumeration materials such as Respondents’ NPC Form 01, pencils and ink pads were grossly inadequate and were not supplied within the time stipulated for the enumeration exercise, adding that it was discovered that 90 Enumeration Maps which contained relevant data of many houses for thousands of Lagosians were missing from the Respondents’ records.

The Complainants averred that the census figure of 629,061 recorded for Oshodi-Isolo LGA during the exercise is grossly inaccurate, clearly illogical and highly disputable adding, “Considering the influx of hundreds of persons into the Local Government Area almost on a daily basis, a return of population for the 3rd Complainant in 2006 is highly improbable”.

“There has been rapid large scale development of low and medium income residential schemes, both by the State Government and private initiatives in the 3rd Complainant, which has attracted people in droves from within and without the State and country to the 3rd Complainant LGA”, the petitioners said.

Among the reliefs sought in the Petition titled Complaint Objection with file number CTC/LG/02/18 are an order to declare the Census result of 619, 691 made in the 2006 Census Exercise for the 3rd Complainant, Oshodi-Isolo LGA of Lagos State void, an order to compel NPC to release the result of the Post Enumeration Survey and an order for recount of the residents in the various communities in the Local Government, among others.