President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has inaugurated a Presidential Committee on the Nationwide Inhabitants and Housing Census, mandating it to submit an interim report inside three weeks.
The committee is anticipated to map out a viable pathway for the long-overdue census train, final carried out in 2006.
Talking on the inauguration held on the State Home in Abuja on Wednesday, President Tinubu, represented by his Chief of Employees, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, emphasised the essential function of the census in driving evidence-based coverage selections throughout key sectors corresponding to healthcare, training, safety, and financial planning.
“We anticipate you’ll contact on the expertise space as a result of the census should be technology-driven. Issues have modified for the reason that final time that we carried out this train. The enumeration needs to be technology-driven with biometrics and digitalization,” President Tinubu was quoted to have stated in an announcement signed by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday.
The President tasked the committee with exploring revolutionary funding methods, together with each home and worldwide sources, to assist the census mission.
He additionally directed all related businesses—particularly the Ministry of Finances and Financial Planning—to take possession of the method, underscoring that the census should be a cross-sectoral, technology-backed nationwide precedence.
Nigeria’s final census was carried out almost 20 years in the past in 2006, recording a inhabitants of 140,431,790.
With present inhabitants estimates nearing 220 million, a reputable and up to date inhabitants determine is seen as important for correct fiscal planning, infrastructure improvement, and social service supply.
The eight-member Presidential Committee on the Census is chaired by the Minister of Finances and Financial Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu. Different members embrace:
Senator Bagudu, in his remarks, assured the President that the committee would meet its three-week deadline.
He reaffirmed the dedication to designing a sensible roadmap for the census, together with an in depth useful resource mobilisation technique and suggestions for leveraging expertise within the enumeration course of.
Bagudu additionally recalled the President’s earlier cost to ministers throughout their 2023 retreat to “suppose creatively” and work with the sources obtainable, even beneath harsh financial circumstances.
NPC Chairman Nasir Isa Kwarra disclosed that the Fee has already commenced technical preparations in collaboration with the Ministry of Finances and Financial Planning and different stakeholders. These embrace figuring out useful resource gaps, constructing capability, and reviewing present frameworks wanted for a reputable inhabitants and housing enumeration.
Kwarra assured Nigerians of the Fee’s readiness to ship a clear, inclusive, and technology-driven census, with a deal with real-time information assortment and verification mechanisms.
