Nigeria took a step closer on Monday to conducting a new national population and housing census with biometric and digital components. The nation last held a census in November 2006.

President Bola Tinubu, at a meeting at the Statehouse with officials of the National Population Commission (NPC), said he would set up a committee to align the census budget to the government's present financial realities.

He said the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) must be part of the review.

"We must ascertain who we are, how many we are, and how to manage our data. Without an accurate census, we can't successfully plan for employment, agriculture, and food sovereignty. So many problems come up without accurate data", President Tinubu said.

He reiterated his commitment to ensuring accurate and reliable figures from the national census to strengthen development planning and improve Nigerians' living conditions through more efficient social security.

The National Population Commission (NPC) Chairman, Nasir Isa Kwarra, and some other members briefed the President.

Tinubu noted that government incentives, such as the sale and distribution of fertilisers, could be easily improved with more reliable data and demographics.

The President told the delegation that biometric capturing should be central to the process, with multiple identification features, including facial and voice recognition.

"We should work on our financial muscle well in place to lift our burden before we go and meet development partners for the census. We should work out the figures before discussing the role of development partners.

"This stop-and-go activity on the census cannot work with me. So we better have a definite path. I will set up a committee for you to look at the issues critically and do a source and application of resources. Where can we get help, and what can we lift before we embark on proclamation?

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, said the census data would be central to future planning and resource distribution.

"At a retreat for the ministers in 2023, Mr President, you reiterated your commitment to the census, so there is no doubt about your desire and commitment to have the census. In fact, at the last Federal Executive Council meeting, you asked me what the problem was, and I told you it was simply an issue of lack of ability to fund the census.

"Even today, before this meeting, I called the NPC Chairman and restated your commitment to the census. However, the commission and all of us in the team need to agree on the minimum amount we can source to support Mr President in making the final decision.

"The NPC indicated that 40 per cent of the funding for the 2006 census came from development partners," Bagudu stated.

Bagudu noted that the enumeration done by NPC so far has been helpful.

"Mr President, we have been having ecosystem meetings to link the identity agencies, even the geo-spatial chaired by the ministry, because of our mandate as the supervising ministry of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). So the NPC, NBS, NIMC, Ministry Of Digital Economy, passport, social register, voters register, and even telecoms data have been meeting with the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) to see how much is available to the government regarding data and how much optimisation can take place."

In his presentation, NPC chairman Kwarra said the last census took place in 2006, and 19 years later, the figures were no longer relevant in planning, particularly for key sectors that directly impact the population.

He said 760,000 tablets had been acquired and stored with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), assuring the commission would engage with development partners to seek support whenever President Tinubu proclaimed the new census.

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