President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, said that the National Population Commission (NPC) will get assistance from the federal government in conducting the next census.
He said this while speaking at the launch of the Digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System and the National Geospatial Data Repository.
He did not, however, state when the “next census” will take place.
“Our people continue to be the country’s most valuable resource for progress,” said President Bola Tinubu.
“Collecting accurate and reliable information on the size, distribution, composition, and characteristics of the population is an essential governance activity that is also consistent with the current administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The Commission will therefore be supported in the conduct of the next census,” he went on to say.
According to the President, trustworthy information on the quantity, characteristics, and distribution of the nation’s population is vital for both planning and providing effective public services to Nigerians.
He remarked that the country’s most precious asset in its ultimate aspiration to become one of the world’s leading economies is its people.
News About Nigeria noted that the President emphasised that coming at a time when the Commission has made significant progress in its pursuit to deliver the first digital population and housing census, he, therefore, hopes that the result of the census will provide Nigeria with much-needed information to support development planning and the enthronement of good governance
Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, which had been scheduled for May 3-7, to a date to be determined by the Tinubu administration, which took office on May 29, 2023.
Following a meeting with Tinubu in July, NPC Chairman Nasir Isa Kwarra announced that the President would announce new dates for Nigeria’s national population and housing census, noting that a delay would incur extra costs on top of the N200 billion originally allotted for the project.
The House of Representatives disagreed last week on staging a census this year due to security concerns. Legislators rejected the motion while requesting that Tinubu change the census date because of security concerns.
In contrast, the House agreed to investigate the NPC’s expenditure on the postponed 2023 census.
Nigeria had its last national census in 2006.
