The Federal Government Thursday said it may carry out a national census after the next general elections scheduled to hold in February and March 2023.
A pilot census will be conducted in June by the National Population Commission after political parties have held their primary elections.
The last census was held in August 2006. NPC said it is targeting to carry out the next one in April 2023.
The director-general of Nigeria Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Isa-Kwarra, made the disclosure at the end of the Council of State meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The NPC boss said the commission will deploy high technology in the conduct of the national census.
“It is very crucial because I have highlighted that the census is a very important exercise for the nation,” Isa-Kwarra said.
“Through census, we generate the data that we use for policymaking, for planning, for development, by the three tiers of government, and the private sector, they all need this.
“If you are a private sector, you’re producing something, certainly, you need to know the population of an area if you want to create a market there.
“So, census data is very crucial, very important. Because, the data we’ve been using are just projections, and estimation and are sort of obsolete, we need the actual census data to use for our planning.“
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