The 2023 Population and Housing Census was rescheduled to calm nerves after the general elections, National Population Commission (NPC) has said.
The census, earlier scheduled for May 3, will be conducted after the May 29 presidential inauguration.
Director of Public Affairs Department, Isiaka Yahaya, who addressed reporters in Abuja yesterday, urged Nigerians to dismiss misconceptions that the census was postponed due to lack of funding and preparation.
He said: “The census was not postponed but rescheduled, because preparations have begun already. Some are having the misconception that the census was postponed due to the commission’s lack of preparation. But I want Nigerians to know that we are prepared and we have done everything needed to deliver this census, starting from the enumeration/demarcation, first and second pre-test and the trial census. So the issue of our preparedness is out of it.
“The responsibility for funding is of the Federal Government, and it has lived up to expectations. And I know that if there was a consensus to proceed with the census, the money will come. We should be very clear that it’s not an issue of funding.
“The Federal Government has the power to decide whether the census will hold or not; this is a massive exercise and the decision cannot be only for the commission to make. Hence, the Federal Government felt, in its wisdom, to postpone it and, in its discretion, decided to hold it after the May 29 inauguration.”
Census Manager Inuwa Jalingo said the Commission is technically ready to implement the census as preparations for the exercise continues.
He added: “We have created the necessary system required to implement a digital census, starting with our software which we developed for the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD). For the success of the census, we have developed systems that won’t allow the enumerators go beyond the boundaries in which they are expected to enumerate. So the issue of overlap or under coverage has been taken care of in our planning.”
Jalingo said salaries of the ad hoc staff have been put on hold due to the recent development.