The Census Tribunal sitting in Abuja has ordered the National Population Commission (NPC) to embark on another enumeration exercise for Lagos Mainland Local Government Area of Lagos State after it voided the figure ascribed to the area in the 2006 population census.
The NPC had put the council’s population at 326,700, a figure that the council contested before the Census Tribunal ‘C’.
The council had alleged that some of its areas were not enumerated, which the tribunal confirmed, and also claimed that there were insufficient enumeration materials and that the figure did not reflect the true population of the council. It urged the court to void the figure and order recount in the areas not enumerated during the exercise.
Delivering judgment, Chairman of the Tribunal, Mary Obegolu voided the figure based on failure of the respondent to counter the allegation of non-enumeration by the complainant.
Obegolu held that the complainant’s witnesses had testified that they were not enumerated, adding that the respondent failed to contradict the claims.
According to the chairman, there were no material claims to buttress the commission’s claims on the enumeration of the entire areas. She added that there was no material proof to NPC’s claim that there were sufficient materials and no locality was left out.
She further claimed that the commission’s witness was not the right person to testify before the tribunal because he did not participate in the actual head-count and that the tribunal, being a fact finding one, relied on material claims in determining cases before it any of which the respondent did not tender.
Stressing that the burden of proof had shifted to the respondent, she said: “On the burden of proof, the complainant had proved its case on preponderance of evidence.
“The Tribunal is convinced and satisfied with the evidence of the complainant’s witnesses who testified they were not counted and the complaint succeeded. It therefore holds that the population figure of 326,700 declared by the respondent for the complainant is faulty, unsustainable and inaccurate, and accordingly declared the figure null and void.”
Previously, the tribunal had voided results of Agege and Eti-Osa Local Government Areas in Lagos.
