The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, has reiterated that the country currently lacks the financial capacity to conduct a national census.
He stated this during a meeting with President Bola Tinubu and officials of the National Population Commission (NPC) at the State House on Monday.
Bagudu said while the president remained committed to conducting a new population and housing census, securing the necessary funding remained a challenge.
“At a retreat for the ministers in 2023, Mr President, you reiterated your commitment to the census, so there is no doubt about your desire and commitment to have the census. In fact, at the last Federal Executive Council meeting, you asked me what the problem was, and I told you it was simply an issue of lack of ability to fund the census.
“Even today, before this meeting, I called the NPC Chairman and restated your commitment to the census. However, the commission and all of us in the team need to agree on the minimum amount we can source to support Mr President in making the final decision,” Bagudu stated.
He added that the government and the NPC must agree on a minimum amount that could be sourced before President Tinubu could make a final decision on proceeding with the census.
He noted that in 2006, 40 per cent of the census funding came from development partners.
At the meeting, President Tinubu announced that he would set up a committee to review the census budget in line with the country’s financial realities.
He stressed the importance of accurate population data for national planning, employment, agriculture, and social security programs.
“We must ascertain who we are, how many we are, and how to manage our data. Without an accurate census, we can’t successfully plan for employment, agriculture, and food sovereignty. So many problems come up without accurate data,” Tinubu said.
He emphasized that biometric capturing, including facial and voice recognition, must be central to the process to ensure reliability.
He also tasked the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) with playing a key role in the exercise.
“We should work on our financial muscle well in place to lift our burden before we go and meet development partners for the census. We should work out the figures before discussing the role of development partners.
“This stop-and-go activity on the census cannot work with me. So we better have a definite path. I will set up a committee for you to look at the issues critically and do a source and application of resources. Where can we get help, and what can we lift before we embark on proclamation?
Bagudu noted that the enumeration done by NPC so far has been helpful.
“Mr President, we have been having ecosystem meetings to link the identity agencies, even the geo-spatial chaired by the ministry, because of our mandate as the supervising ministry of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). So the NPC, NBS, NIMC, Ministry Of Digital Economy, passport, social register, voters register, and even telecoms data have been meeting with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) to see how much is available to the government regarding data and how much optimisation can take place.”
In his presentation, NPC chairman Kwarra said the last census took place in 2006, and 19 years later, the figures were no longer relevant in planning, particularly for key sectors that directly impact the population.
He said 760,000 tablets had been acquired and stored with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), assuring the commission would engage with development partners to seek support whenever President Tinubu proclaimed the new census.