The National Population Commission (NPC) on Friday disclosed that it has no plan to conduct census in 2025.
Erelu Oloruntoba, the NPC acting director of public affairs, disclosed this in a statement, following reports that the commission has set 2025 for next census.
Oloruntoba noted that there is no official announcement that the exercise would hold in 2025 yet.
He added that while the Commission conduct the exercise, according to the nation’s constitution, the president has the sole power to declare such.
The statement read, “The attention of National Population Commission (NPC) has been drawn to misleading reports circulating online, which falsely suggest that the Chairman, Hon. Nasir Isa Kwarra, has announced that the next Population and Housing Census in Nigeria will take place in 2025.
“We wish to clarify that no official announcement regarding the date of the upcoming census has been made.”
Earlier, Nasir Kwarra, NPC chairman, was said to have announced 2025 for the next census.
Kwarra was reported to have said, “a major setback that we face is the delay in conducting a population and housing census. A reliable and accurate census is fundamental for good decision-making.
“But the government, at the highest level, is committed to conducting a census, and we believe it will take place next year.”
The NPC added that its chairman’s remarks was “taken out of context by individuals seeking to mislead the public and drive traffic to their sites rather than provide accurate information.”
“To put the record straight, during a media interaction at the 30th Anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Abuja, the NPC Chairman addressed the pressing issue of significant data gaps in Nigeria that impede the tailoring of reproductive health services and interventions to specific demographic groups,” it added.
The commission, however, implored “the public to seek verified information from official NPC channels rather than relying on unsubstantiated claims.”
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