Despite N200bn spent, Senate uncovers zero provision for 2024 Population Census

There was mild drama in the Senate during plenary on Tuesday as the Committee on Appropriations discovered that there was no provision for the population and housing census scheduled for next year in the National Population Commission (NPC), 2024 budget proposal, which was submitted to the National Assembly for consideration.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Population Commission, Senator Abdul Ningi, who presided over session, expressed his surprise at the omission when he informed the lawmakers about the development while presenting a report on the NPC 2024 budget to the collating Committee.

Ningi told the Committee that if the money for the census was not provided in the budget, the country would lose about N200 billion which the NPC had spent.

He therefore, advised the NPC to appear before the Committee on Wednesday with its documentation on how much they need to conduct the 2024 population census.

“They will appear tomorrow (Wednesday) with proper documentation of how much they need. If we don’t get the money, the nation will lose, the people will lose, the money spent on the preparation for the census will go down the drain and it is a humongous amount of money, over N200 billion already spent that is my take,” Ningi said.

In his reaction to the development, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Olamilekan Adeola, assured that the committee would look for funds to cater for the 2024 population census in the budget.

“Let me assure you that the country will not lose and we are going to work very closely with them that a 25 per cent component is included, we must find a way to accommodate it in this 2024 budget.

“We would like the agency to appear along with the Chairman of the Committee, with a synopsis of the idea of what is going on about the issue of the census and whatever the issues are, I can assure you that we will resolve it and the population census will come up by the first quarter of 2024.”

What the omission of a budgetary provision for the 2024 census means for Nigeria are enormous as the NPC had earlier announced extending a whopping N200 billion on its preparatory activities for the conduct of the Population and Housing Census which was earlier scheduled for 2023 before it was postponed to 2024.

During a press briefing in Abuja earlier in the year, the Di­rector, Public Affairs Department in NPC, Dr. Isiaka Yahaya, had justified the amount already spent in preparing the 2023 Census.

Yahaya explained that the said N200 billion spanned a long period of time when the preparations for the Census started in 2014.

Among other things the nation stands to lose beside the amount are that the government would not have an idea of the different populations in different parts of the country which will in turn aid the government in the adequate provision of social amenities like water, electricity, roads, and hospital which is beneficial to the citizens of the country.

A Population and Housing Census will also provide reliable and evidence-based data for the implementation of the revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development and realization of the SDGs as well as assist in the determination of the standard of living of the people in a county as the number of people in a country is used to formulate policies for the development of the country.

Nigeria stands to miss these key indices which would enable it in policy-making and public-sector planning.

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