…says deployment of technology will make exercise credible, difficult to manipulate
KEMI OMONIYI
The National Population Commission (NPC), has said that the 2023 national population and housing census will hold from March 29 to April 2, 2023.
NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, revealed this while briefing the State House Correspondents, after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“By March 29 to April 2, our staff will be in the field enumerating people,” said Kwarra.
Kwarra further assured Nigerians that the forthcoming Population Census as the commission has employed the aid of available technology which would make it difficult for anyone to manipulate the exercise.
Fielding questions from Correspondents, Kwarra said the exercise will be different from the previous ones marred by controversies as the Commission will be making use of cutting-edge technology, including Global Positioning System (GPS) and satellite images.
This is as he also revealed that every building in the country has already been coded for the purpose.
“This census is going to be different from past censuses. The theory and practice is essentially the same, but we’re using high-end technology to conduct this census and it’s such that nobody can tamper with any figure. Nobody will be counted more than once.
“We’re visiting households to do direct interface with the household, collect data and in the past in the past if you’re doing an operational manually, it’s very cumbersome, but this is being aided by technology and I believe it’s going to be transparent and very fast and it is going to be verifiable because we are able to provide data up to local government, up to wards level. So it is something that you can always verify,” he said.
Kwarra said the demarcation of enumeration areas has been completed, affirming that the exercise proper will take place between in late March and early April.
He further disclosed that a portal has been opened by the Commission to recruit ad-hoc staff for the conduct of the exercise, adding that people recruited will be deployed to work in their localities.
Speaking against the worrisome security situation in parts of the country, he hoped that the exercise can be conducted smoothly in the areas affected.
