President Bola Tinubu says the Federal Government will support the National Population Commission (NPC) in the conduct of the next census.
The President, who spoke on Wednesday at the launch of the Digital Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System, and the National Geospatial Data Repository at the State House, Abuja.
He, however, did not reveal the date for the “next census”.
“Our population remains the greatest asset of the nation in the development process,” the President said.
“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 Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.
“The Commission will therefore be supported in the conduct of the next census,” Tinubu said.
The President further said accurate information on the size, characteristics, and distribution of the nation’s population is imperative both for planning and for the effective delivery of public services to Nigerians.
He said Nigeria’s population remained the greatest asset the nation wields in the broader mission to become one of the largest economies in the world.
“Coming at a time when the Commission has made substantial progress in its quest to deliver the first digital population and housing census, it is my hope that the result of the census will provide the nation with much-needed data for development planning and the enthronement of good governance,” he said.
Ex-President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census earlier scheduled between May 3 and 7 to a date to be determined by the Tinubu administration, which took over on May 29, 2023.
In July, NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, after meeting with Tinubu, said the President would announce new dates for Nigeria’s conduct of the national population and housing census, saying the delay in the conduct of the census will incur more expenses to the N200bn earlier earmarked for the exercise.
Last week, the House of Representatives disagreed on conducting census this year due to insecurity. The lawmakers rejected a motion asking Tinubu to fix a new date for census due to the security challenges in the country.
The House, however, resolved to investigate the money expended on the postponed 2023 census by the NPC.
The national census was lasted conducted in Nigeria in 2006.
