The house of representatives has asked the federal
government to suspend the planned national census over Nigeria’s security
challenges.
At Tuesday’s plenary session, the green chamber said the
census scheduled for this year should be put on hold until the country’s
security situation improves.
The lawmakers also invited Nasir Kwarra, chairman of the
National Population Commission (NPC), to appear before them over the feasibility
of conducting the census in the face of insecurity.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored
by Shehu Beji from Niger state.
The NPC has been undertaking the enumeration area
demarcation (EAD) exercise ahead of the planned census which President
Muhammadu Buhari had approved N10 billion for in October 2020.
Leading the debate on the motion, Beji said the insecurity
in the country has displaced many residents of villages that ought to be
captured in the census.
He said some of the displaced persons have migrated to
neighbouring countries to seek refuge and would not be captured if the census
is conducted.
“With the overwhelming security challenges at hand,
expecting accuracy in any census conducted now would be like passing an
elephant through the eyes of a needle,” he said.
“In the circumstance, a large chunk of Nigerians have fled
their homes, while many others are being held under captive by kidnappers. As
such, conducting such a census without them means infringing on their
constitutional right.
“Posting enumerators or ad hoc staff to volatile areas of
the nation in the name of conducting a census is irrational, as it would be
like giving them out to criminals.”
Beji further said going ahead with the exercise will only
waste Nigeria’s hard-earned resources and that with the 2023 general elections
around the corner, a national headcount “shall be prone to political
manipulation by over ambitious politicians.”
“That past census
conducted had yielded controversial statistics for the nation as a result of
partial coverage of the actual population of the country which we must not be
allowed to perpetuate,” he said.
The motion was adopted after it was put to a voice vote by
Femi Gbajabiamila, the speaker.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com