Lawmakers Call For Review Of Lagos Census Figure

Armed with the recent report from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that Lagos State recorded 6.23 million registered voters, Assembly Matters sought the views of lawmakers. Excerpts.

Taiwo Kolawole (Majority Leader)
It places Lagos at a vintage position and it shows that there are a lot of new voters. It also shows that people are getting more concerned about the way they are being governed. If you like the way you are being governed, you would want to register and vote for the continuity or if you are apprehensive of the way you are being governed you would want to show reaction by voting against it. In as much as it is good for us, it also sends a lot of signals to the politicians that they need to do more in the area of campaigns and enlightenment and improve on the way they convince people within their catchment area.
As a statistician, I know that we normally have more young people in these kinds of issues. It is almost confirming the figures arrived at by Lagos State when it conducted its own enumeration. This has confirmed that the National Population Commission (NPC)’s figure is faulty, because we have more people living in Lagos than the NPC claimed. It is unfortunate that they are playing politics with figures and this is going to affect our planning and execution of projects.
We are already at the tribunal. We have filed our application confronting them with our own figures but it is slow. You know the tribunals spend many years resolving what they have to resolve in months.

Solomon Olamilekan (Chairman, House Committee on Finance)
It is a pointer to the fact that Lagos is still the most populous of the 36 states.
I would want to state in clear terms that it is not enough for people to register but to demonstrate by voting to elect their own leaders that they want for positions of authority because it is a tradition in this country that many people register, but when the election proper comes up, very few would come out to vote.
It shows that the people are getting more aware of their rights. Many people are disturbed about the current happenings within the country and to a large extent, I think our people have resolved that whoever is going to lead them must get it through the ballot box and only those they want would be elected into these offices.
We should all come to the support of INEC in terms of logistics because the commission will need the people to work with them now rather than distracting them with court orders and substitution of candidates when ordinarily, we need to move to the next level.

Dayo Saka Fafunmi (Chairman, House Committee on Infrastructure)
It only shows that there is more awareness in Lagos and just a way to confirm that the state is not what the Federal Government told us it is. For us to have over six million clearly shows that our population cannot be less than 18 million and there is no state in Nigeria that has ever moved close to Lagos. It is a sign of political awareness and a sign that the people have decided to uphold one-man one-vote in order to ensure that their votes count. Now most people have seen the tremendous impact of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that has put smiles on the faces of Lagosians. People now believe in the government.
The population census was nothing but mere enumeration. In the census, it is possible for you to count the legs and not the head, but this is an exercise where people are physically counted and all their data captured. This is a reflection of the number of people we have in the State. When the Population Commission said there were more people in Kano than Lagos, a lot of people kicked against it. We have the opportunity of visiting Kano and we know what is happening. I am not saying Kano is