The Federal Government has disclosed that the date for the commencement of the 2023 National Population and Housing Census will begin on May 3.
A member of the Publicity and Advocacy Committee on the 2023 National Population and Housing Census, Dr. Garba Abari, who is the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency, (NOA), made the disclosure yesterday, in Abuja when he appeared on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum.
He said that the three-day exercise would commence on May 3 and end on May 5 across the country. Abari explained that the census exercise would capture every person, household and structure for national planning and project execution purposes.
According to him, the change in the date was due to the postponement of the 2023 gubernatorial and state houses of assembly elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He described the census and the 2023 elections as major national events with significant importance which had earlier been planned to hold not too far away from each other.
Dr. Abari further stated that, “The census had to be put forward from the initial date of March 29 to April 2nd, now to May 3rd to 5th.
On the level of preparedness, the NOA boss assured the nation that the National Population Commission was ready to embark on the exercise.
This year’s Census, according to Abari, will be different from previous ones. He stated that technology will be used to collect data on citizens during the census, adding that the use of technology would increase the exercise’s credibility.
