The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Government to postpone the 2021 population and housing census being planned by the National Population Commission (NPC) because of the rising insecurity in Nigeria.
The House made the call during a plenary on Wednesday following a motion brought under matters of public importance, moved by Shehu Beji (APC, Niger).
Moving the motion, Shehu said the country was unsafe for the exercise given the rising insecurity in Nigeria while urging the government to suspend the exercise till such a time the country was safe enough for it.
According to him, several factors would work against the accuracy of the figures that would be obtained and the overall success of the exercise due largely to insecurity.
The lawmaker noted that the safety of enumerators would not be guaranteed in many parts of the country which would ultimately expose the exercise to manipulations.
He prayed that the chairman of the NPC is invited to explain the feasibility of conducting a population and housing census in the country amid the current security challenges.
