Senate Commits To Hold Census In November

The Senate has said it will hold the population and housing census slated for November this year. 

This was stated by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Identity and Population, Senator Abdul Ningi, Wednesday while speaking during the screening of 17 of the 19 commissioner-nominees for the National Population Commission, NPC.

He said: “It is a renomination and we have perused their credentials presented in the first instance, compared to the ones they. have just presented.”

Recall that Nigeria has been using estimated numbers for a long time because the National Population Commission’s 2006 census yielded a population estimate of 140 million.

Another census was scheduled to be conducted in 2022 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, however, it was ultimately rescheduled for 2023.

However, just days before he left office, Buhari announced that he would let President Bola Tinubu set new dates for the headcount and suspended the exercise indefinitely.

Recently, Tinubu announced that his administration would support the upcoming census, citing its significance in important areas of national planning.

Ningi continued by pointing out that Nigeria had not held a census in the previous eleven years and that carrying out the procedure depends entirely on the political will of the administration.

He further said that the population census is the fundamental building block of human growth and that no plan could be carried out in its absence.

He said: “We are almost 11 years without taking the United Nations resolution on population which comes almost every seven years.

“I am sure with the political will, this is possible, it’s doable, the commission is ready, the personnel are ready. All we need do is the announcement by the President that the population census is coming on a date and once he says it, the international observers will now come in with their support.

“Without the President’s declaration, no one will send a kobo to Nigeria to support population census. Seventy-five percent of the logistics in terms of machines, in terms of training of the personnel have been completed.

“All we need to do is for the President to have the political will, and commitment to say the census is taking place and we cannot postpone it.”

“That is why it is difficult now to ascertain the exact population. Even pro-rata, how many are Nigerians because of lack of political will,” Ningi said.

He explained that since the population issue was on the front burner, all efforts are underway to ensure its takeoff, saying “The nominees should realise the importance of the assignment before them. The last time we had a national census was more than a decade ago.

“No nation improves nor develops without knowing its number and therefore, this is a unique assignment that the nominees will face in due course.