The Nigerian Population Commission (NPC) has urged President Bola Tinubu to approve the commencement of the general census to avoid the loss of valuable data and financial resources. The census, initially scheduled for 2022, was postponed by former President Muhammadu Buhari due to the 2023 general elections. Buhari suspended the exercise indefinitely just before leaving office, leaving the decision to his successor.
During an award ceremony of the Urhobo Leadership Forum in Abuja, Federal Commissioner of the NPC, Mrs. Blessing Brume-Ataguba, stated, “We are primed for the census and waiting for President Bola Tinubu to make the proclamation.” She noted that the NPC had already made significant preparations, including constituting a security committee and categorizing all houses and households.
About ₦200 billion has been spent on preparations for the postponed census. Brume-Ataguba emphasized the importance of conducting the census soon to avoid losing the data collected so far. “If Nigeria fails to carry on with it, we might lose a lot of data because we have invested so much money in the process,” she added.