President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday inaugurated a high-level committee on the forthcoming national population and housing census.
At the ceremony held at State House, Abuja, Tinubu mandated the committee to submit an interim report within three weeks, May 7, 2025.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, revealed this in a statement he signed on Wednesday titled ‘President Tinubu inaugurates national census committee, gives three-week deadline for report.’
The development comes barely two months after the President expressed plans to create a committee to align the census budget to the government’s present financial realities.
Nigeria’s last housing and population census was in November 2006, nearly two decades ago.
It recorded a population of 140,431,790, with 71,345,488 males and 69,086,302 females.
Since then, the exercise has faced repeated delays and logistical hurdles since the twilight of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Although the National Population Commission invested in new technology—such as digital mapping and biometric capture—to enhance accuracy and transparency, issues including inadequate funding, insecurity in certain regions, and the onset of COVID-19 contributed to a series of postponements.
The 2023 census, in particular, was deferred due to overlapping concerns, ranging from budget constraints to political transitions, making it difficult for stakeholders to finalisé preparations before Buhari left office.
Under the Tinubu administration, plans to reschedule the census have equally faced difficulties, as the Federal Government remain uncertain over timing, methodology, and questions regarding how best to capture data on large, mobile populations, including internally displaced persons.
“This stop-and-go activity on the census cannot work with me. So we better have a definite path,” Tinubu said while meeting officials of the National Population Census on February 24, 2025.
At Wednesday’s inauguration, Tinubu, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, said the census was crucial for national development, accurate planning, and effective healthcare, education, security, and economic planning.
The President stressed the pivotal role of a technology-driven process in ensuring credible and verifiable results and the need for collaboration among all relevant agencies and stakeholders.
He also underscored the critical financing factor in the exercise and enjoined the members to look at domestic and even international resources.
“Work with all relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. This ministry has to take charge of this because you cannot budget if you do not know how many we are.
“We expect you will touch on the technology area because the census must be technology-driven.
“Things have changed since the last time that we conducted this exercise. The enumeration has to be technology-driven with biometrics and digitalisation,” he said.
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, who chairs the Presidential Committee on Population and Housing Census, assured the President that the committee will deliver its report within the three-week deadline.
Bagudu recalled President Tinubu’s advice to ministers during their retreat in 2003, urging them to think creatively and work with the resources available, even under harsh economic conditions.
The former Kebbi State Governor noted that despite global economic challenges, Nigeria is making steady progress under President Tinubu’s leadership, citing improved foreign exchange stability and a positive growth trajectory.
He said the committee will recommend practical solutions, including strategies for mobilising domestic and international resources to fund the census.
The Minister of Information, Muhammed Idris, also a committee member, emphasised that accurate data is critical for planning across all sectors and that a credible census is the foundation for such data.
The NPC Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, who will also serve as the committee Secretary, said the commission has already begun preparations for the national population and housing census in collaboration with the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning and other relevant stakeholders.
According to him, the focus has been on identifying key requirements and laying the groundwork necessary for the President to make an informed decision on the actual conduct of the census.
Kwarra assured Nigerians that the National Population Commission remains committed to ensuring a credible, technology-driven enumeration that will support effective national planning and development.
The eight-member committee also includes the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Director General of the National Identity Management Commission, the Principal Private Secretary to the President, and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Operations (Office of the Chief of Staff).
