The Nigerian government, with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari, has approved the indefinite postponement of the 2023 Population and Housing Census, which was previously scheduled for May 3-7, 2023.
This was announced in a press statement signed by Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, and made available to journalists on Saturday morning.
According to the statement, Buhari gave the postponement after meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council and the Chairman of the National Population Commission and his team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday, April 28, 2023 to discuss a new date with the incoming administration.
This is the second time the government would be shifting the census in 2023.
In March, the National Population Commission (NPC) said that the postponement of the 2023 gubernatorial and state house of assembly elections would affect the conduct of the 2023 Housing and Population Census.
The commission had previously suspended the training of adhoc staff who would carry out population count due to finance and logistic issues.
But when asked if a new date has been fixed, he said he could not reveal it as the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, but he would make a broadcast on it.
Recall that the Census was earlier scheduled for March 27 but was shifted to May 3 due to the earlier postponement of the gubernatorial elections.
Also, the chairman of the commission had on Thursday, during a meeting with the diplomatic corps in Abuja, stated that the commission was yet to get all the devices needed to carry out the census, noting that some devices will be procured in a few days’ time.
On the donations for the census by the private sector and other key stakeholders, he had said “But you know the way they operate; it is not as if the money will come like that. They have to talk with their own government and look at their budget. So, that process is ongoing. But we cannot say any money has come in. It is a process, and the process is unfolding.”
According to the source, the NPC chairman was accompanied to the State House by Dr Ipalipo Harry, NPC’s Rivers State Federal Commissioner; Dr Abdulmalik Durunguwa, NPC’s Kaduna State Federal Commissioner; Tellson Osifo Ojogun, the Director General of NPC and Ms. Evelyn Olanipekun, NPC’s Director of Census.