National Census Gulps N280 Billion

The National Population Commission, (NPC) budgeted N280 billion for the conduct of the botched 2016 headcount. The revelation was made over the week by the immediate past Chairman of the commission, Chief Eze Duruiheoma, SAN.

He said it will cost about N280 billion and 36 months of preparation to conduct a qualitative census that will stand the test of time.

The last census that placed Nigeria’s population at 140 million was conducted in 2006. By convention, the census is supposed to happen every ten years, the next one should have been done in 2016.

Duruiheoma however claimed that the financial cost was a major reason why the census did not hold. According to him, “why is this one particularly expensive? Because we were reminded that the last census didn’t cost up to N50b or so, why is this one so? Yes, the reason is simple. We wanted a qualitative census, a census that will stand the test of time, a census whose outcomes will not be a subject of unnecessary acrimony and litigation, that was what we aimed at. How did we intend to achieve it? By deploying technology.

“The kind of technology that will prevent one thing that was so commonplace in previous censuses such as double and fictitious enumerations. That is, enumerating none existing people and all that. We wanted to eliminate them to the barest minimum. So, this technology, which definitely will cost money, shot up the cost of the census. So, we were then told to prune it down, of course, we looked at it critically and brought it down to about N220b. That was last communication on the matter till I left”.

The former Chairman also sighted the change in government as part of the reason the census was put on hold.

He said, “as a matter of fact, preparations were on to have it conducted but the unexpected happened. In 2015, there was a change of government and it would not be reasonable to expect an incoming administration to embark on such a fundamental and cost-intensive thing like census without studying the ground”.

Presently, Nigeria’s population is unofficially put at over 200 million.