Tinubu plans committee, considers another Census
President Bola Tinubu
Tinubu plans committee, considers another Census.
Tinubu plans committee, considers another Census.
Nigeria has taken a significant step towards conducting a new national population and housing census incorporating biometric and digital components.
The last was held in November 2006.
President Bola Tinubu, during a meeting at the State House with officials of the National Population Commission (NPC), announced plans to establish a committee to align the census budget with the government’s current financial realities.
He emphasised the need for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to be involved in the review process.
“We must ascertain who we are, how many we are, and how to manage our data. Without an accurate census, we can’t successfully plan for employment, agriculture, and food sovereignty. So many problems come up without accurate data,” Tinubu stated.
The President reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring accurate and reliable census figures to strengthen development planning and enhance Nigerians’ living conditions through more efficient social security measures.
NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, alongside other commission members, briefed the President on progress made so far.
Tinubu noted that accurate demographic data would help improve government initiatives, such as the sale and distribution of fertilisers, and stressed that biometric capturing should be central to the census process. He advocated for multiple identification features, including facial and voice recognition.
“We should work on our financial muscle well in place to lift our burden before we go and meet development partners for the census. We should work out the figures before discussing the role of development partners.
“This stop-and-go activity on the census cannot work with me. So we better have a definite path. I will set up a committee for you to look at the issues critically and do a source and application of resources. Where can we get help, and what can we lift before we embark on proclamation?” he said.
Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, reaffirmed the importance of the census data for national planning and resource distribution.
“At a retreat for the ministers in 2023, Mr President, you reiterated your commitment to the census, so there is no doubt about your desire and commitment to have the census. In fact, at the last Federal Executive Council meeting, you asked me what the problem was, and I told you it was simply an issue of lack of ability to fund the census.
“Even today, before this meeting, I called the NPC Chairman and restated your commitment to the census. However, the commission and all of us in the team need to agree on the minimum amount we can source to support Mr President in making the final decision.
“The NPC indicated that 40 per cent of the funding for the 2006 census came from development partners,” Bagudu stated.
He also highlighted the progress made so far, noting that enumeration efforts by the NPC had been beneficial.
“Mr President, we have been having ecosystem meetings to link the identity agencies, even the geo-spatial chaired by the ministry, because of our mandate as the supervising ministry of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
“So the NPC, NBS, NIMC, Ministry of Digital Economy, passport, social register, voters register, and even telecoms data have been meeting with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) to see how much is available to the government regarding data and how much optimisation can take place,” he said.
In his presentation, NPC Chairman Kwarra stressed that the 19-year gap since the last census had rendered the existing data inadequate for planning, particularly in critical sectors.
He revealed that 760,000 tablets had been procured and stored at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and assured that the commission would engage with development partners to seek further support once President Tinubu officially proclaims the new census.
