Posted by A probe into the usage of the N200 billion budgeted for the postponed 2023 Housing and Population Census has been launched by the House of Representatives.
The House’s committee on population was ordered on Thursday to summon the head of the National Population Commission (NPC) to answer for the spending of N200 billion.
Hon. Clement Akanni had earlier presented a motion before the House plenary in Abuja titled, “Need to Investigate N200 Billion Spent on the Suspended 2023 Population and Housing Census,” and it was adopted.
In adopting the motion, the House emphasized that a census is a method of methodically gathering, assembling, and analyzing economic, social, and demographic data of a particular area’s inhabitants.
Lawmakers further emphasized that censuses allow governments to collect precise and exhaustive data on a country’s demographic and socioeconomic features, including its inhabitants’ ages, sexes, marital statuses, levels of education, occupations, and housing situations.
The National Population Commission’s most recent census, in 2006, put the population at 140 million, and the House acknowledged this.
It added that it was cognizant of the fact that another census was scheduled to be conducted in 2022 by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, but was subsequently rescheduled for 2023.
Clem Agba, a former minister of state for budget and national planning, estimated that the exercise, including post-census-activities, would cost a total of N869 billion in March 2023, as the House of Representatives recalled.
It also brought to mind the fact that the National Population Commission (NPC) has reported spending over 200 billion to get ready for the housing and population census of 2023.
The House was troubled by the fact that former President Muhammadu Buhari, just days before he left office, decided to stop the process indefinitely.
The House has asked the committee on population to investigate and report back so that the topic can be further discussed.