FG shifts population census to May over guber polls

The federal government has shifted the population and housing census earlier scheduled for March 29.

The exercise will now hold in May.

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, announced the development on Wednesday at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

Mohammed told State House correspondents that the decision was necessitated by the rescheduling of the gubernatorial election to March 18.

He also said that the council approved the sum of N2.8 billion for the National Population Commission (NPC) to procure software to be used for the conduct of the census.

“There was a memo presented by the National Population Commission, seeking some software to allow them to conduct the census in May this year. I believe because of the rescheduling of the elections, they cannot commence the census as scheduled,” the minister said.

“They sought Council’s approval for a contract to procure software for the census at the sum of N2.8 billion.”

TheCable had reported that the federal government said over $1.88 billion (N869 billion) was needed to conduct the exercise.

In April 2022, the federal government announced that it would conduct the census in April 2023 after the elections.

Speaking at a high-level partner engagement in Abuja, Clement Agba, minister of state for budget and national planning, said the federal government has provided 46 percent of the budget.

Agba said there still remains an outstanding of N327.2 billion needed to carry out the census effectively.