Abeokuta residents reject census results
A cross-section of Abeokuta residents has rejected the 2006 census figure for Ogun state.
They urged the government to file a petition at the census tribunal immediately it was constituted.
They said the result had confirmed their fears that many people were not counted during the exercise.
Ogun state was placed 14th among the 36 states with a population of 3,728,098 million.
A senior civil servant in the state ministry of information told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the government was expecting a figure above five million before NPC came out with the "shocker".
Another civil servant, Mr Bamgboye Olumuyiwa, said the result was not a true reflection of Ogun population.
``We should be above four million, even if we are to use the disputed 1991 census with an annual growth rate of 3.4," he contended.
Another resident, Pastor Shola Makinde of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Abeokuta, also condemned the results.
``The president should have rejected the results, even from the claim that Kano has more population than Lagos," he added.
``The state government should go to the population tribunal and seek for justice. This is totally unacceptable to the generality of our people," the clergyman said.
An insurance broker, Olalekan Sanusi, said it was obvious ``for all to see that the 2006 census results were fraught with irregularities''.
He wondered how Ogun state, which relieves Lagos of overpopulation, and with its own population strength, was allocated such ``a ridiculous figure".
Sanusi said the state government should, in the interest of its people, go to the tribunal to prevent the state from being ``robbed of its true population strength".
He added that the development was capable of causing unrest in the state, if nothing concrete was done.
Many other civil servants at Oke-Ilewo mini secretariat, who preferred anonymity, were unanimous in their rejection of the results and urged the governor to rise to the challenge.
Another resident, Olafimihan Ogunleye of Ibara quarters, however, said he was satisfied ``as far as President Olusegun Obasanjo has accepted the results".
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Chief Dare Folarin, told NAN on the telephone that the government would make its position known after carefully verifying the results.