From Fred Itua, Abuja
The National Population Commission (NPC) has spent N200 billion on planned national population census, despite its suspension by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The National chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, who made the disclosure, yesterday, said the Federal Government initially released N224 billion out of the N800 billion sought for the conduct of the census exercise.
Addressing media executives, Kwarra tried to justify the expenditure of N200 billion, insisting that the postponement has given the Commission more time to prepare for the exercise.
He said the cost of conducting digital census was high considering the procurement of equipment and data required for the exercise.
He said the Commission recruited about one million personnel in a bid to conduct a credible and acceptable digital census.
“The Commission had commenced training of certain categories of personnel before the announcement of the postponement. These trainings include the facilitators at national, zonal and state levels, Data Quality Managers, Training Centre Managers, Monitoring and Evaluation Officers. The next categories of personnel to be trained are the Supervisors and Enumerators. The Commission will continue to maintain contacts with the personnel through online trainings and mentorship.
“The Commission had acquired Personal Digital Assistants for the 2023 Census. About 500,000 of these devices have been delivered to the 36 state offices and the FCT and configured for the exercise. Adequate arrangement is being made for the storage and security of these equipment to prevent damages and theft.
“In readiness for the census, the Commission had carried out massive advocacy and publicity for the 2023 Census at national and state levels. Media campaign was intensified while collaboration with stakeholders was strengthened through the inauguration of Census Publicity Committees at national, state and LGA levels. Publicity materials in English and local languages have been disseminated and social media has been deployed on a massive scale. The Commission will continue to carry out advocacy to ensure that the census messages remain at the centre of national discourse.”
He reiterated its commitment to a credible and acceptable census and urged the media to sustain the tempo of publicity.
“It is important to sustain the tempo of the preparation for the census. The focus of the Commission is to lay a foundation for future censuses,’’ he said.
Dr Inuwa Jalingo, Census Manager, stated that the Commission worked round-the-clock to conduct a digital census.
He said the NPC already set up a robust quality dashboard and data for a credible census.
Dr. Isiaka Yahaya, director, Public Affairs Department at the NPC, called on the media to continue to emphasise to the public the imperatives of conducting censuses, noting that advocacy and publicity were critical to making the census successful.