NPC may not take fresh census in Lagos There are indications that the National Population Commission may not comply with the order of the National Census Tribunal that a fresh census be conducted in 14 Local Government Areas in Lagos State. Dependable sources in the Presidency told The PUNCH on Friday that the state would have to wait till 2016 when another nationwide census would be carried out. The source explained that for now, the nation lacked the basic benchmark and requirements to conduct a census. The Lagos State Government had through its Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye; his Works and Infrastructure counterpart, Mr. Obafemi Hamzat, and the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Lateef Ibirogba, asked the NPC to conduct a fresh census in the 14 LGAs in line with the the NCT judgment. Ipaye had stated that since the tribunal nullified the figures released by the NPC, another headcount was very necessary in the areas considering the physical and economic projections of the government. According to him, the 2006 census was conducted on the basis of 20 LGAs listed in the 1999 Constitution. He had said, “In the final analysis, the official national census results for 14 old Local Government Councils (now 40 LGAs and LCDAs) in Lagos State have been nullified. This vindicates the resolve of the state government to base its physical and economic plans on a projected population of 17,553,924 in 2006 and over 21,000,000 currently. We now expect that the NPC will urgently announce plans for a recount as ordered by the tribunal. “Most importantly, a shadow survey carried out by state officials during the exercise showed that Lagos State should have had a population of at least 17,553,924. A good number of residents from various communities within the state protested and, eventually, had petitions filed on their behalf when the census tribunal was established.” But the NPC said it had yet to get a copy of the tribunal judgment. The commission’s Chairman, Chief Festus Odimegwu, in an interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, said, “When a judgment is delivered, it usually takes a while before a Certified True Copy is given. “The tribunal has not served the NPC any paper that the 2006 census exercise in Lagos State has been nullified.” When contacted, a Presidency source said, “To conduct a census is a major event and not something you just jump into because a court said you should do so. “The conditions required to conduct a proper census do not exist in Nigeria as we speak. Nobody can conduct a proper census because the conditions are not there. “Before a census is conducted, it takes three years for the type of census we want to do and we have not even started the preparation. “So, the NPC cannot conduct any census anywhere because the conditions are not okay. Anything we do now will be like a guesswork. When the judgment is ready, the NPC will reply and educate the court on what is possible and what is not possible and I am sure they will understand.” Another source in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation said conducting a fresh census in Lagos State would be a misadventure. He said, “To run a proper census is the biggest challenge of any nation like Nigeria. The only thing that is bigger than it is war. To wage war you need to simulate the entire country and in census, it is exactly the same thing, except that it is on the peace line. “So it is easy to say ‘conduct census’; but it is not practical to do so because if we want to do it properly the way we are planning, it won’t be possible. The court is entitled to its judgment. But our duty as professionals is to educate the courts. “So the whole country should wait until Nigeria conducts another census in 2016. If the nation wants an accurate census, the NPC will deliver it. But we need at least, three years preparation for that; once we deliver it, this country will be delivered from this darkness from people shooting golden arrows into darkness.” But the Lagos State Government said on Saturday that the Federal Government and the NPC should not hide under any guise to disobey a court order. The state argued that since the Federal Government had been proclaiming the rule of law, it had no reason not to comply with the tribunal’s judgment. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy told our one of correspondents in Lagos that the tribunal’s verdict was a valid one and therefore should not be disregarded for any reason whatsoever. He said, “It is a dangerous trend that the Federal Government and the NPC want to start. If the people of Lagos State went to seek refuge in the judiciary and the verdict was that the census should be redone in some places, why would anyone want to look for ways not to implement the verdict? “The Federal Government and the NPC made representation at the tribunal as well as Lagos State. So they know about the judgement. Nobody should say he had yet to hear of it or get a certified true copy of the judgment. The rule of law must be allowed to prevail. The census should be retaken in the 14 LGs as ordered by the tribunal.” When one of our correspondents visited the Registry of the Census Tribunal in Abuja, the secretary was not available to speak on the matter. But a top source, who did not wish to be named, said that the NPC had not officially applied for a copy of the judgment as required by the rules guiding the tribunal. According to him, the NPC initially made enquiries, stating its wish to collect the judgment but was informed that it had to send in a formal application. Meanwhile, a group, the Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo Youth Congress, has condemned the calls for the sacking of the NPC chairman by Kwakwanso and the Arewa Consultative Forum. The Chairman of the congress, Chijioke Onyekaonywu, in a joint statement he signed with a Chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Stanley Okeke , argued that “the nature and intent for the calls had the capacity to create confusion and overheat the polity. Onyekaonywu and Okeke said, “The need to preventa threat to our national security and avoid descent into anarchy and mutual distrust, has necessitated our taking this stride to address the dangerous and reckless attack on the person of Chief Odimegwu by the governor of Kano State. “The statement credited to Odimegwu has nothing to warrant the call for his head by Kwakwanso. Even in his capacity as just a citizen of Nigeria, Odimegwu has a right to air his views. Odimegwu should be commended for being courageous enough to state the facts as they are.”
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 05:09:11 +0000
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