President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the indefinite postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, earlier scheduled to hold between Wednesday, May 3, and Friday, May 7, 2023, to a date to be determined by the incoming Administration of President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
The President gave the approval after meeting with some members of the Executive Council of the Federation and the Chairman of the National Population Commission and his team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
The decision to postpone the exercise was hinged on the critical need for the conduct of a credible Population and Housing Census after 17 years to collate up-to-date data that will drive the developmental goals of the country and improve the living standard of the Nigerians.
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The President noted that with the completion of the Enumeration Area Demarcation of the country, the conduct of first and second pre-tests, the recruitment and training of ad-hoc workers, procurement of Personal Digital Assistants, PDAs, and ICT infrastructure, appreciable progress has been made in the implementation of the 2023 Population and Housing Census.
He also commended the methodology being put in place by the Commission 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 exercises.
The President further directed the Commission to continue with preparations for the conduct of the 2023 Population and Housing Census in order to sustain the gains already recorded and provide the basis for the incoming administration to consolidate on the achievements.
The meeting was attended by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
