President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the indefinite postponement of national census, scheduled to take place between May 3 and 5.
The development was disclosed in a statement by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and made available to TheIdeal News on Saturday.
According to Mohammed, the new date for the census will be determined by the incoming administration of President-elect, Bola Tinubu.
It is instructive to note that Buhari had through the National Economic Council (NEC), suspended the planned removal of fuel subsidy.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House Correspondents after the NEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Ahmed added that although the removal of fuel subsidy is imminent, she said the NEC decided that the timing for subsidy removal is not auspicious for now, saying that incoming Tinubu administration would definitely take a decisive action on the controversial matter in June.
Explaining the decision of Buhari, Lai Mohammed said, “The President gave the approval after meeting with some members of the Federal Executive Council and the Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) and his team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday (28 April 2023)”.
The minister said the meeting took note of the critical need for up-to-date data that will drive Nigeria’s developmental goals and improve the living standards of its people.
Lai Mohammed also quoted Buhari as commending the methodology being put in place by the Commission to conduct accurate and reliable Census, especially the massive deployment of technology capable of delivering world-class census and laying a sustainable basis for future censuses.
The statement reads in part, “The President further directed the Commission to continue with preparations for the conduct of the 2023 Population and Housing Census in order to sustain the gains already recorded and provide the basis for the incoming administration to consolidate these achievements.”
It is important to note that the postponement of national census is coming after a Federal High Court in Abuja rejected an ex-parte application seeking to stop the census exercise.
The plaintiff, Omotuyi Ademola, had approached the court with an ex parte application, seeking a postponement for six months.
He is also asking the court to declare that the NPC was currently underfunded and therefore unprepared to conduct a credible, effective, and constitutional census.
But Justice Inyang Ekwo refused to grant the ex-parte application and asked Ademola to put the NPC and other defendants on notice.
Justice Ekwo further held that the NPC should appear in court to show cause why the applicant’s motion should not be granted.
The judge consequently adjourned the matter till May 5.
