On Monday, Nigeria made significant progress towards conducting a new national population and housing census, which will include biometric and digital elements.
The last national census was held in November 2006.
During a meeting at the Statehouse with officials from the National Population Commission (NPC), President Bola Tinubu announced plans to form a committee to align the census budget with the country’s current financial situation.
He emphasized the need for the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) to be involved in the review process.
The president explained that having an accurate census is crucial for effective planning in areas such as employment, agriculture, and food security.
He noted that without reliable data, managing national challenges would be difficult. He also expressed his commitment to ensuring that the census results would support development efforts and improve social security in Nigeria.
The NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, along with other members of the commission, updated the president on the preparations for the census.
President Tinubu pointed out that government programs like fertilizer distribution could be more effective if they were based on reliable data.
The president further suggested that biometric identification, including facial and voice recognition, should be a central part of the process.
He stressed that the government must first solidify its financial capacity before seeking support from development partners.
In his comments, the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, noted that census data would be essential for future planning and resource distribution.
He reminded the president of his commitment to the census, highlighting the financial challenges faced in funding it. He also shared that development partners had funded 40 percent of the 2006 census.
Efforts to connect various identity and data agencies, including the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the NIMC, are ongoing.
These agencies are working together to assess available data and optimize resources.
NPC Chairman Kwarra reminded the president that the data from the last census is outdated and no longer relevant for current planning.
He also mentioned that 760,000 tablets have been secured and stored at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the new census.
