The apex body of Igbo lawyers in Nigeria, Otu Oka-Iwu, has rejected the composition of the Presidential Committee on the 2025 National Population and Housing Census, describing the exclusion of South-East and South-South as gross misrepresentation of the regions.
The group in a statement on Monday argued that the exclusion of the two geopolitical zones from a critical national assignment regarding the national census would undermine the outcome and credibility of the exercise.
According to the statement signed by the President of Otu Oka-Iwu, Mazi Okechukwu Unegbu, and the Secretary, Chief Ben Ihesiulo, out of the seven members appointed to the census committee, five are from the South-West, while the remaining two are from the North Central and North-West.
The group noted that no representative was drawn from either the South-East or the South-South.
“This is not just an omission; this is a clear and calculated act of marginalisation,” the group said. “It reinforces the entrenched and widening pattern of exclusion and systemic discrimination against the Igbo people and our neighbours in the South-South region.”
The lawyers stressed that a national census is more than a statistical exercise, describing it as a deeply political and economic process with long-term implications for resource allocation, political representation, and national development.
“It defines who counts, and who is counted,” they said.
They warned that the exclusion of the South-East and South-South amounted to a rejection of the constitutional principles of federal character, equity, inclusion, and justice.
“We cannot, and will not, be spectators in our own country,” the group declared.
Otu Oka-Iwu called for the immediate reconstitution of the Presidential Census Committee to reflect Nigeria’s true federal character and ensure the inclusion of competent representatives from the South-East and South-South.
The group also issued a stern warning that failure to address the perceived injustice could lead to widespread resistance.
“We will not hesitate to mobilise our people across Igbo land and the South-South to resist and reject any enumeration or census process carried out under such a flawed and exclusionary framework,” they stated.
The group urged traditional rulers, political leaders, civil society organisations, religious bodies, and the international community to intervene and demand a reversal of what it described as a “grievous error.”
“The unity of Nigeria cannot be built on selective inclusion and calculated injustice. There can be no peace where there is no justice,” it added.
