Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has agreed to postpone the census in the country which was scheduled from 3rd to 7th May.
He is saying that the next government should set the right time.
The president's approval of this action came after a discussion he had with members of the Federal Executive Council and the head of the National Census Commission Nasir Isa Kwarra and his staff in Abuja last Friday.
He praised the efforts of the agency on its plan to implement a clean census, by providing modern devices that will be used to lay the foundation for a reliable census in the future.
Muhammadu Buhari also pointed out that the work of dividing the areas to be counted and the first and second counting tests has been completed, along with the recruitment of temporary workers and their training. Also available are digital services and internet technology devices.
The participants were convinced that there is a need to carry out the census considering that the number of Nigerians has been counted, it has been 17 years, and many things have changed, so it will be necessary to re-know the number of Nigerians.
Their knowledge, according to the meeting hall of the presidential palace, will help to build any national development that will be in line with the number of citizens with the aim of improving their lives.
President Buhari ordered the Commission to continue with the plans it has started for the 2023 census, so that the efforts that have been started should not be abandoned, so that the next government will have the necessary information to make it easier for them to achieve the goals of this plan.
Among the participants of the meeting, there is the Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Finance and Planning Zainab Ahmed and the Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Last month, the head of the Nigerian Census Commission, Nasir Isa Kwarra, announced the postponement of the election of governors and members of state legislatures in the country.
Canceling the census would be a big setback for Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.
The statement of the authorities did not shed more light on the reasons that led to the suspension of the census, four days before it began.
A great deal of money has been spent, and a long time has been spent in preparing for this grand occasion which has now been raised.
There is no confirmation on the exact timing of the next census in Nigeria, although in principle it should have been done seven years ago.
