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Lawmakers implore Nigerian govt to shelf national census

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The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to immediately suspend the proposed 2021 population and housing census to be conducted by the National Population Commission (NPC), due to insecurity.

This motion was moved by Rep. Shehu Beji (APC-Niger) on the floor of the House on Wednesday, in Abuja, while lamenting the state of insecurity in the country.

Beji said the current insecurity had displaced numerous citizens, dwellers of various communities, to be captured in the exercise.

The lawmaker said that some displaced persons had even crossed over to neighbouring countries for refuge and would not be captured if the census was conducted.

He noted that with the overwhelming security challenges, expecting accuracy in any census conducted would be ‘like passing an elephant through the eye of a needle’.

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“In the circumstance, a large number of Nigerians have fled their homes, while many others are being held captive by kidnappers.

“As such, conducting such census without them means infringing on their constitutional right.

”Posting enumerators or ad hoc staff to volatile areas of the nation in the name of conducting census will be irrational, as it would be like giving them out to criminals,” he said.

According to him, conducting a population and housing census in the current economic recession will only waste the hard-earned resources of this country as the outcome will be inconsequential.

The House, therefore, called on the Federal Government to suspend the upcoming census exercise until the security of the country was stabilised, while mandating the relevant committee to inquire about the work plans of the NPC on the census.

By Mayowa Oladeji…

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