The Federal Government has postponed the 2023 Population and Housing Census, earlier scheduled for May 3-7 2023, to a date to be determined by the incoming administration.
President Muhammadu Buhari approved the shift after a meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council, Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) Nasir Isa-Kwarra and his team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday.
A statement signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Saturday highlighted the need to conduct a population and housing census, 17 years after the last census.
Mohammed said the essence of the census is to collect up-to-date data that would strengthen the developmental goals of the country and improve the living standard of Nigerians.
He quoted President Buhari as saying that appreciable progress was made towards the preparation and implementation of the now postponed census.
The President noted that the completion of the Enumeration Area Demarcation of the country, conduct of first and second pre-tests, recruitment and training of ad hoc workers, procurement of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and ICT infrastructures, revealed that Nigeria was fully prepared for the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
He commended the methodology to be deployed by the NPC to conduct accurate and reliable census especially the massive deployment of technology that is capable of delivering world class census and laying a sustainable basis for future censuses.
Despite the shift, the President directed the commission to continue with the preparations in order to sustain the gains already recorded and provide the basis for the incoming administration to consolidate the achievements.
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